Riot Games and JioBLAST Bring VALORANT Campus Cup to Colleges Across India
Riot Games and JioBLAST have announced the VALORANT Campus Cup, a nationwide collegiate gaming initiative designed to bring competitive VALORANT closer to students and gaming communities across India.
The tournament will feature activations across 10 colleges, 5 gaming café competitions, national online qualifiers, and culminate in a National LAN Final, giving aspiring players the opportunity to represent their campuses on a national stage.
The programme will feature activations across 10 colleges pan-India and gaming café competitions across five cities, followed by national online qualifiers and culminating in a one-day National LAN Final.
The VALORANT Campus Cup will also introduce a dedicated women's competition, with separate online qualifiers creating an inclusive pathway for female collegiate players. Together, the initiative aims to strengthen India's collegiate esports ecosystem by fostering campus rivalries, expanding grassroots participation and discovering the country's next generation of VALORANT talent.
From Campus to Champions
At its core, the VALORANT Campus Cup is designed to create a structured journey for young players, beginning with competitive experiences on college campuses and within gaming cafés before progressing to national-level competition.
Students will participate in 5v5 competitive gameplay, campus challenges and player-focused experiences, while gaming café showdowns will extend the competition into additional gaming communities across colleges in India.
Speaking on the announcement Charlie Cowdrey, CEO, JioBLAST, said:
"India is home to one of the world's most passionate and rapidly growing gaming communities. With the VALORANT Campus Cup, we're creating more than a tournament; we're building a platform where students can represent their campuses, compete at a national level and become part of India's growing esports ecosystem.
Together with Riot Games, we're excited to create experiences that inspire the next generation of competitive players while strengthening collegiate esports across the country. BLAST globally works extensively in partnership with Riot Games and so it is super exciting to be extending that to India through JioBLAST"
Qualifying teams will then progress to structured online competition, with the best teams earning their place at the National LAN Final.
For the first time in India, the initiative will also feature a dedicated women’s competition, with separate online qualifiers providing collegiate women players with their own pathway to compete for a place at the National Final.
Anushka Bhatnagar, Publishing Lead, India and South Asia, Riot Games, said:
“At VALORANT, we believe in meeting players where they are and for many of them, that journey begins in colleges and gaming cafes. VALORANT Campus Cup is our commitment to creating meaningful opportunities through structured competition, giving students a clear pathway to represent their campuses, compete against the best teams from across India, and experience organized play. Every great competitive journey starts somewhere, and we're excited to see the stories, rivalries, and future stars that emerge from campuses across the country.”
Tournament Format
The competition will progress across four key stages:
- 10 College Activations across India
- 5 Gaming Café Showdowns
- National Online Qualifiers, including dedicated women’s qualifiers
- 1-Day National LAN Final featuring the leading men’s and women’s teams
The National LAN Final will bring the competition together in a broadcast-led culmination event, combining high-level collegiate competition with on-ground player and fan experiences.
Further details on participating colleges, cities, registration, tournament dates and the National Final will be announced in the coming weeks.
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Riot Games
Riot Games was founded in 2006 to develop, publish, and support the most player-focused games in the world. In 2009, Riot released its debut title, League of Legends, which has gone on to be one of the most-played PC games in the world. In the years since, Riot has released VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Riftbound and 2XKO. Riot’s titles have led to the creation of some of the most-watched and widely recognized esports in the world, culminating in events like the League of Legends World Championship, VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) and the TFT Open, which are watched by millions of fans each year. Riot has also expanded its IP through multimedia projects across music, comic books, board games, and Arcane, its Emmy-winning animated series.
JioBLAST
JioBLAST is a joint venture between BLAST, and RISE Worldwide Limited (a wholly owned RIL subsidiary), combining Jio’s digital ecosystem with BLAST’s global expertise in esports entertainment and RISE’s leadership in sports and event management. JioBLAST creates premium, youth-focused competitive entertainment formats designed to help players, fans, creators and partners connect through gaming and live experiences.