Gaming
Nodwin Gaming partners with Konami for ‘eFootball Diwali Showdown’
Mumbai: The ‘eFootball Diwali Showdown,’ a special influencer tournament organised by Nodwin Gaming and Konami Digital Entertainment, concluded with S8UL Aman as the champion.
Eight prominent Indian gaming personalities, including Dreamboy, Yes Smarty Pie, Ezio18Rip, Sid, Senpai Spider, K18, Binks, and Aman, competed in group and knockout stages.
To celebrate Diwali, Konami announced special in-game rewards for Indian gamers. Players can log in to eFootball and earn exclusive Diwali-themed rewards, including unique player packs featuring stars from the Indian football team and special Diwali-themed jerseys available only during the festive period.
Tournament participants K18, Senpai Spider, and Yes Smarty Pie will stream matches for fans on their individual YouTube channels. These initiatives demonstrate Konami’s commitment to India’s growing mobile gaming market. As a free-to-play title, eFootball provides open access to gamers of all backgrounds.
Recently, eFootball was selected by FIFA as an official title for the FIFAe World Cup, with India among 18 participating countries. Additionally, eFootball will be featured in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s WAVES Esports Championship 2025 (WESC), enhancing its relevance in India’s gaming landscape. Earlier this year, Konami announced that eFootball has surpassed 700 million total downloads worldwide.
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.
