At 5 pm on a Wednesday, the massive wooden gates of Ghanshyam Villa in Navi Mumbai are closed. They look like they rarely open. There is no doorbell. “Knock, and the watchman will appear,” suggests a young neighbour. We obey. The watchman peeps through the gap, hesitates, makes a call and finally, the door to the bootcamp of the esports organisation GodLike opens—but only a tad. “The players who have made it to the World Cup so far are all international — USA, Japan, Switzerland…” we are told. “They are not here. They will be flying to Paris directly.” Not too far away, the bootcamp of S8UL—a bungalow that boasts a private chef for its digital athletes—remains just as elusive.For the first time, two Mumbai-based esports clubs—GodLike and S8UL—will be among the forty elite organisations heading for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026, which starts in France on July 6. Running until August 23, it will feature 25 tournaments across game titles, a prize pool exceeding $75 million (over Rs 700 crore) and hundreds of elite players competing across mobile, PC, and console games spanning EA Sports FC to League of Legends.For India, the stakes are larger..The country accounts for roughly 20 per cent of the world’s gaming population — an estimated 517 million players — but contributes only about 1.1 per cent of global gaming revenue. The gap between audience and output is precisely what makes the presence of GodLike and S8UL in the Esports Foundation’s Club Partner Programme significant, say observers.The programme supports 40 of the world’s leading esports organisations through funding, international promotion, and strategic support. S8UL was selected for a second consecutive year after becoming the first Indian organisation to enter in 2025. GodLike joins it this year, placing both alongside global giants including T1, Fnatic, and G2.Not too far from GodLike’s closed gates, S8UL represents a different model. Co-founded by Animesh Agarwal, who began as a competitive player, S8UL has entered qualification pathways across 13 titles for EWC 2026 — the most ever attempted by an Indian organisation. It has already qualified in Apex Legends, Chess, Fortnite, and Honor of Kings. Its Apex Legends roster recently delivered India’s best-ever finish in the title, while its BGMI squad won India’s premier mobile esports competition. Increasingly, esports organisations resemble entertainment companies as much as sports leagues.The contrast between India’s two flagship clubs is instructive. S8UL’s Honor of Kings roster is largely home-grown and qualified by defeating GodLike in the domestic semi-finals. GodLike has taken a different route, signing international stars including Switzerland’s Nicolas “Chap” H. and Germany’s Felix “Flickzy” G. in Fortnite, and Dominican Republic fighting game specialist Cristopher “Caba” Rodriguez in Street Fighter 6. The question of whether an Indian club fielding international players advances India’s esports story — or only its own — sits quietly at the centre of this moment.“The biggest challenge is not talent,” says Agarwal. “The real challenge is the ecosystem that supports that talent.” Countries that consistently produce world champions benefit from structured coaching, sports psychologists, performance analysts, and regular international competition. Around 97 per cent of Indian gamers play on mobile devices. While that has democratised gaming across smaller cities and towns, it has its own limitations. Visa delays frequently prevent qualified Indian players from competing overseas. Closer to home, the Esports Foundation and JioBLAST have launched India Rising: Road to EWC — open qualifiers drawing over 10,000 players nationally, with the chess winner earning a direct spot at EWC’s chess event. It is, at minimum, a start: the grassroots now has somewhere to go.One discipline where India bypasses the traditional hardware barrier entirely is chess. Enter Nihal Sarin, the 21-year-old grandmaster from Kerala who may represent India’s strongest medal hope in Paris. At last year’s EWC in Riyadh, his heart rate reached triple figures as he pushed into the quarterfinals of the world championship stage and held the legendary Magnus Carlsen to a draw in the opening game before eventually losing. “Against Magnus, you know that every small decision matters,” Nihal says. “There was a moment where I could have taken a draw, but during the game, I felt the position still had enough life in it to keep playing. It didn’t work out, but I don’t regret trying. Those are the experiences you learn the most from.”The EWC chess format is rapid — ten minutes per player, no increment — making speed and instinct critical. Heart-rate monitors are displayed live during broadcasts; at last year’s event, players recorded heart rates approaching 168 beats per minute while seated at the board. Nihal qualified this year through consistent performances across the Champions Chess Tour. “Naturally, I would like to go further this time and challenge for the title,” he says.Chess occupies a unique place in India’s esports story. India recently won the Chess Olympiad and boasts a generation of elite players. Yet EWC places them in esports jerseys, competing before gaming audiences for prize pools that often exceed those on traditional circuits. “Classical chess will always remain the purest version,” says Nihal. “But formats like this help bring the game to people who may never have discovered it otherwise.”
