World Cyber Games Returns to India with 2025 National Showdown

Get ready, Indian gamers—The World Cyber Games (WCG) is making its return to India with the WCG 2025 National Showdown.

Slated for September 2025, the Indian edition will be organized by local esports powerhouse Upthrust Esports. 

This is part of a broader expansion that includes National Showdowns in South Korea, India, and the Philippines, all leading up to the massive WCG Global Festival in Indonesia this December.

So… what exactly is Creator Rumble?

In case you missed last year’s mayhem: Creator Rumble isn’t your typical esports format. It’s a wild mix of competitive gaming and board-game-style randomness, where teams of three creators go head-to-head in unpredictable matchups featuring popular titles like Free Fire, The Finals, Chained Together, and Fall Guys.

It’s part skill, part strategy, part pure chaos—and fans love it. The 2024 edition saw 60 influencers from eight countries battling it out, and now the format is heading to India for the first time ever.

India’s top creators, one global goal

The WCG 2025 National Showdown in India will spotlight some of the country’s top gaming creators, who will compete in Creator Rumble for a chance to represent India on the global stage. The winning squad will head to Indonesia in December, joining a potential 300 creators from around the world in a high-energy offline showdown to crown the “best game creator in the world.”

The event will be backed by Smilegate, with STOVE serving as the official community platform.

“India is one of the most dynamic and fast-growing gaming communities in the world,” said Kyungjun Min, Director of Global IP Strategy at Bigpicture Interactive, the new stewards of WCG. “We’re excited to work with Upthrust Esports to create something special for Indian fans.”

Upthrust Esports CEO Kartik Sabherwal added, “This collaboration not only showcases the incredible talent and passion of our community, but also paves the way for new opportunities.” 

A long legacy, now creator-powered

Often dubbed the “Esports Olympics” (though not to be confused with the IOC’s own esports plans for 2027), the WCG has a history that goes all the way back to 2000, when it was launched with support from Samsung and Microsoft. It grew into a global spectacle with hundreds of thousands of competitors and millions in prize money—before briefly shutting down in 2014.

After a comeback in 2017 under Smilegate, WCG evolved to include creator-focused competitions alongside traditional esports. And with Bigpicture Interactive now at the helm, the festival has been reborn with fresh energy and a new, community-driven format.

Details about who’s competing, what games will be played, and where to watch are still under wraps, but expect announcements in the coming months.