The third annual GEM (Gaming, Esports, and Metaverse) Awards 2025 announced its winners on February 28 in a grand ceremony at The Lalit Ashok in Bengaluru as part of the GAFX conference.
Organized by AnimationXpress in partnership with Anime Times, the GEM Awards celebrated the best talents and achievements in India's gaming industry. Xbox and CyberPowerPC served as industry partners for this prestigious celebration.
The organization presented two special awards to recognize significant contributions to the industry's growth in India:
The Tamil Nadu government received the "State Contribution to the Indian Esports Industry" award for organizing the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Trophy 2024. This tournament included diverse participants from school students to differently-abled individuals. According to the organizers, this initiative demonstrated the government's commitment to nurturing talent for international competitions like the Asian Games and Olympics.
JetSynthesys founder and CEO Rajan Navani was honored with the "Contribution to Gaming & Esports Industry in India" award for his visionary leadership. Navani has championed responsible gaming development and sustainability while advocating for greater community engagement.
The awards covered numerous categories across gaming, esports, and metaverse sectors. In the gaming segment, Lucid Labs won "Best Casual Game" for "Bloom – A Puzzle Adventure," while SuperGaming's "Indus Battle Royale" shared the "Best Mobile Game" award with Zupee's "Ludo Supreme."
Esports achievements were also celebrated, with Jonathan "Jonathan Gaming" Amaral winning "Esports Athlete of the Year." GodLike Esports took home "Esport Organisation Of the Year," while Skyesports was recognized as the "Esports Tournament Organiser of the Year."
Fan Choice Awards gave voice to the gaming community, with Team Soul named "Fan Favourite Esports Team of the Year" and Battlegrounds Mobile India recognized as the "Most Trending Game of the Year."
Complete List of GEM Awards 2025 Winners
GAMING
Best Casual Game: Bloom – A Puzzle Adventure by Lucid Labs
Best Hyper Casual Game: Military Academy 3D by Street Lamp Games & Wobble Gobble by Backstage Pass Institute of Gaming and Technology
Best Midcore Game: Artifice: War Tactics by Silvine Game Studios
Best Hardcore Game: 1971: Indian Naval Front by Neosphere Interactive Studios
Best Console Game: Darkarta: A Broken Heart's Quest by Tuttifrutti Interactive
Best Mobile Game: Indus Battle Royale by SuperGaming & Ludo Supreme by Zupee
Best PC Game: Laser Tanks by AbhiTechGames
Best PC Game – International: Valorant by Riot Games & The Finals by Embark Studios
Best Student Game: Cognac Metaverse by Aditya Gaurav & Heads Off! by Rajath Biju/Hurshwardhan Nashine/Prathamesh Gandhi
Best Gaming Promo: Unsung Empires: The Cholas I by Ayelet Studio & Jungle Book Snake and Ladder Game by Powerkids Entertainment
Best Game Direction: Chirag Chopra for Bloom – A Puzzle Adventure & Abhishek Vyas for American Dad! Apocalypse Soon
Best Game Producer: Abhishek Vyas for WWE Mayhem, Reliance Games
Best Art Direction: Unsung Empires: The Cholas I by Ayelet Studio & American Dad! Apocalypse Soon by Reliance Games
Best Game Score/Music: Andrea Belucci for Artifice: War Tactics
Best Audio Design: Vishwas for Artifice: War Tactics
Games for Impact: Little Singham Cycle Race by Reliance Games
Best Ongoing Game: Battle Legion by Godspeed Games
Most Anticipated Game: Unsung Empires: The Cholas II by Ayelet Studio, Kapih by 88 Games, & Winds of Arcana: Ruination by Brewed Games
Best Indie Studio of the Year: Lucid Labs & Gamebee Studio
Game Studio of the Year: SuperGaming
METAVERSE, NFTs, TECHNOLOGY
Metaverse Developer of the Year: Immersive Gamitronics Studios
NFT Creator of the Year: Skoda Auto Volkswagen India for Škodaverse India
Best Custom PC Builder: EliteHubs
Best PC Hardware Brand: Cooler Master
ESPORTS
Best Streaming Platform: Rooter
Esports Coach of the Year: Rahul "Osmium" Sharma
Esports Caster of the Year: Ankit "Ankiiibot" Pandey
Best Esports Promo/Commercial: Rivalry Anthem by Ampverse DMI
Best Esports Production: Tesseract Esports & Nodwin Gaming
Esports Commercial Partner of the Year: Hero Xtreme x GodLike Esports
Esports Moment of the Year: Riot Games India & South Asia | Convergence
Esports Athlete of the Year: Jonathan "Jonathan Gaming" Amaral
Esports Tournament Organiser of the Year: Skyesports
Esports Tournament of the Year: BMPS 2024 by Skyesports
Esport Organisation Of the Year: GodLike Esports
Best Esports Team: Gladiators Esports & Godlike Esports
Best Esports Player: Ganesh "SK Rossi" Gangadhar
Streamer of the Year – Male: Yash "Lollzzz" Thakkar & Tanmay "Sc0utOP" Singh
Streamer of the Year – Female: Payal "Payal Gaming" Dhare
Content Creator of the Year (Gaming): Sakshi "Sharkshe" Shetty & Jonathan "Jonathan Gaming" Amaral
FAN CHOICE AWARDS
Fan Favourite Esports Team of the Year: Team Soul
Fan Favourite Content Creator of the Year: GamerFleet – Anshu Bisht
Fan Favourite Lifestyle Gaming Personality of the Year – Male: Ocean Sharma
Fan Favourite Lifestyle Gaming Personality of the Year – Female: Kaashvi "Kaash Plays" Hiranandani
Fan Favourite Esports Player of the Year – Female: Swayambika "Sway" Sachar
Fan Favourite Esports Player of the Year – Male: Jonathan "Jonathan Gaming" Amaral
Most Trending Game of the Year: Battlegrounds Mobile India
As AnimationXpress director Mishaal Wanvari put it, "We're witnessing remarkable talent and innovation emerging from India." And he's right – from casual mobile games to high-stakes esports tournaments, India is quickly making its mark on the global gaming map.
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