Gaming
ESFI opens registrations for National Esports Championships 2024
Mumbai: Esports Federation of India (ESFI) has opened the registrations for the highly anticipated National Esports Championships (NESC) 2024, marking the start of the journey towards the 16th World Esports Championships (WEC) which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Organized by the International Esports Federation (IESF), the WEC 2024 will witness a total of 609 teams representing their countries across five game titles – Counter Strike 2 (Open and Female), Dota2, eFootball™ series, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Open and Female), and PUBG MOBILE. The prestigious tournament will kick off on November 11 and feature a whopping prize pool of $1 million prize pool being distributed among the top eight teams in each game title and category for the first time.
The NESC 2024 will provide a platform for players across India to demonstrate their prowess in DOTA 2 (Open), eFootball (Open), and Counter-Strike 2 in the open and female categories. The winners will advance to the regional qualifiers where they will compete against other Asian countries to secure their berth for the global finals of the WEC 2024.
Commenting on the commencement of the NESC 2024, Esports Federation of India president Vinod Tiwari stated, “After a historic 2023, where India made its debut at the Asian Games 2022, we are excited to embark on a new year of opportunities with the NESC 2024. Last year, we hosted the country’s inaugural female CS:GO qualifiers, where the winning team made it all the way to the Asian qualifiers. This time, we anticipate even greater achievements from our country’s talented female athletes. Overall, we are looking forward to witnessing the talent and passion of all Esports players throughout the qualifiers.”
One of the country’s top sports & Esports communication agencies, Artsmith-Concepts & Visions, will continue its support to the Esports Federation of India as its official communication partner.
The registrations for NESC 2023 are now open and will continue until 15 April. All details about the registrations will be available on ESFI’s discord server – https://discord.gg/esfi
The online qualifiers will kick off from 18 April and will be played in a double-elimination format. The exciting action from the Championships will be streamed live on ESFI’s official YouTube and Facebook pages.
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Gaming
IICT signs three MoUs to boost AVGC-XR and esports
Partnerships with Zenfluencers, Yologram and Eruditio at Chennai Gaming Show 2026 strengthen education, XR innovation and nationwide talent outreach.
MUMBAI: IICT has just levelled up the game in a big way. The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies signed three strategic Memorandums of Understanding on 17 April 2026 at the CII Summit FX – India Gaming Show in Chennai, forging alliances with The Zenfluencers, Yologram Style Pvt. Ltd. and Eruditio Consultants to accelerate India’s AVGC-XR ecosystem.
The tie-ups combine IICT’s strengths in education, skilling and research with specialist expertise across esports, immersive technologies and large-scale outreach.
- With The Zenfluencers, IICT will roll out globally benchmarked esports programmes, including joint certification courses, industry workshops, tournaments and masterclasses, creating clear career pathways across the full esports value chain.
- The partnership with Yologram Style Pvt. Ltd. focuses on gaming, immersive storytelling and extended reality (XR), delivering industry-aligned curriculum, faculty mentorship, student showcases and collaborative research in immersive AI and virtual production.
- Collaboration with Eruditio Consultants targets awareness, accessibility and career alignment, with nationwide counsellor training, institutional engagement and structured guidance frameworks to reach students beyond Tier-1 cities.
IICT CEO Vishwas Deoskar said, “As the AVGC-XR sector evolves at a rapid pace, strong collaborations between industry and academia are essential. These partnerships will create meaningful impact across education, innovation and outreach.”
Yologram Style Pvt. Ltd. founder Aditya Mani added, “AI-driven creator worlds are transforming games into engines of culture, commerce and careers. Together we aim to empower a generation to build immersive futures.”
Eruditio Consultants founder Indrajit Ghosh noted, “This is not just about awareness, it is about building a structured ecosystem that connects aspiration with opportunity.”
The Zenfluencers CEO Atharva Gupta said, “This MoU is a big unlock moment for the esports ecosystem in India. We’re building a structured pipeline for talent across the full stack.”
By bringing together academia, industry leaders and ecosystem players, IICT is creating scalable models that blend cutting-edge skills with real-world relevance. In a sector racing toward the future, these three partnerships ensure India’s next generation of creative technologists won’t just keep up, they’ll set the pace.
