KRAFTON India has officially launched the 2026–27 edition of its Esports College Campus Tour, initiating the circuit on October 10 from IIT Kharagpur and IIT Varanasi. Running through March 2027, the collegiate initiative will encompass 256 higher education institutions across the country—doubling the footprint of its previous iteration.
The regional distribution allocates 64 participating institutions to each of India’s four primary geographic zones: North, South, East, and West. The move follows the 2025–26 tour, which engaged more than 75,000 students across 128 campuses.
Tournament Format and Titles
The ongoing season features organized competitions in Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Real Cricket. The operational model integrates tournament stages directly into annual college festivals, coordinated locally by student festival committees alongside esports event partners Nodwin Gaming and Upthrust Esports. KRAFTON India will fund the overall prize pools for the events.
Competitive Pathway to Pro Circuit
The campus tour introduces a tiered progression system for student teams:
- Campus Qualifiers: Individual tournaments hosted within each participating institution.
- Zonal Stages: Winning teams from each college advance to regional elimination brackets.
- Grand Finals / College Campus Championship: A final 16-team tournament featuring the highest-placing squads from across the country.
The squad that secures first place in the College Campus Championship will receive a direct invitation to the invited phase of KRAFTON India’s official competitive tournaments scheduled for later in 2027.
Regarding the expansion, Karan Pathak, Associate Director – Esports, KRAFTON India, said:
Last year, we saw how much interest there is among college students for competitive gaming, with the Campus Tour reaching 128 colleges and engaging over 75,000 students. This year, we are taking that a step further by reaching 256 colleges across the country. We want to give more students the chance to experience competitive gaming at their own campuses, compete with other colleges and, for the strongest teams, progress to the next level. With BGMI and Real Cricket, we are looking forward to another exciting season across campuses in India.