Pixel P&L by AFK Gaming
Posts
Pixel P&L: Gaming's Biggest Publishers Unite for National Team Esports Competition

Pixel P&L: Gaming's Biggest Publishers Unite for National Team Esports Competition

AFK Gaming Editorial
August 25, 2025

Welcome to another Failory edition. This issue takes 4 minutes to read. If you only have one, here are the 5 most important things:

Saudi Arabia launches the first-ever Esports Nations Cup tournament that brings together multiple major game publishers including EA, Ubisoft, Krafton, and Tencent.
Krafton India plans two new BGMI tournaments for late 2025.
OpenAI opens its first India office targeting the country's $6 billion AI market.
Nvidia prepares to launch GeForce Now cloud gaming in India, bringing RTX 5080-grade performance without expensive hardware.
Celio launches anime-themed "Kaiju No. 8" merch in India.

Let's get into it.

Saudi Arabia to Host First Global Esports Nations Cup in 2026

The Esports World Cup Foundation unveiled the Esports Nations Cup, where elite gamers will compete for their countries rather than professional teams.

The biennial competition, debuting in Riyadh in November 2026, represents a notable expansion for the $1.8 billion esports industry by bringing national competition to a global scale in a sport traditionally centered around professional clubs and organizations.

"Nation versus nation competition is the ultimate expression of sport," said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation. "The ENC makes this a reality for esports, giving every fan a flag to rally behind."

Major game publishers Electronic Arts, Krafton, Tencent and Ubisoft will co-develop the tournament, bringing established franchises to the national team format. Players from all major regions will compete across team-based and individual events, with guaranteed prize money distributed equally regardless of game title.

The announcement, made at Riyadh's New Global Sport Conference before 1,500 industry leaders, builds on the success of the Esports World Cup, the world's largest multi-title esports event.

Krafton India Reportedly Plans Two New BGMI Tournaments for Second Half of 2025

Krafton India will host two new Battlegrounds Mobile India esports tournaments in the second half of 2025, including one that will serve as an international qualifier, according to a report by IGN India.

The tournaments will be separate from Krafton's existing BGMI circuit, which includes the Battlegrounds Mobile India Series and Pro Series that concluded earlier this year. One of the new events will focus on domestic competition, while the other will act as a qualifier that could potentially connect to the PUBG Mobile Global Championship scheduled for November-December in Thailand.

The latter addresses the longstanding isolation of India's mobile gaming scene. BGMI, a standalone Indian version of PUBG Mobile, has operated separately from global esports due to regulatory restrictions. This year marked a breakthrough when Team AxTMG became the first Indian BGMI squad to compete internationally at the Esports World Cup.

⚡️Quick Bytes

OpenAI to Open India Office

OpenAI will establish its first corporate office in New Delhi by the end of 2025, targeting India's projected $6 billion AI market as user spending surged 800% year-over-year. The ChatGPT maker also launched a discounted ₹399 monthly subscription service for Indian consumers, significantly below its existing $20 U.S. pricing for its base paid subscription. The expansion could benefit India's growing gaming industry, where AI-powered development tools and procedural content generation are increasingly valuable for local studios and mobile game developers.

Nvidia to Launch GeForce Now Cloud Gaming Service in India

Nvidia is preparing to launch its GeForce Now cloud gaming service in India, marking its expansion into one of the world's largest gaming markets. The service streams high-end PC games with RTX 5080-grade performance to devices without requiring expensive hardware. The launch timing coincides with Nvidia's September rollout of upgraded 50-series infrastructure featuring DLSS 4 technology.

Celio Launches New Anime Themed Merch for India

French menswear retailer Celio launched a clothing collection based on anime series "Kaiju No. 8" in India, featuring character-themed T-shirts and tactical shirts. The move reflects growing demand for anime merchandise in India, where streaming platform Crunchyroll ranks the market as its second-largest globally.

⚔️Side Quest

Credits: rinkajimo

📺 Watch: If you've ever wondered how games truly make you feel something, watch this. Eric Prinz from Nyamakop opened my eyes to emotive design and why authentic African storytelling in games matters so much.

🎮 Play: Discounty offers charming supermarket management with engaging story and small-town drama. While gameplay gets repetitive with limited shelf variety and only one optimal strategy, it's genuinely fun for most of its 10-hour runtime. Perfect if you want a cozy simulator with actual narrative goals, not deep complexity like Stardew Valley.

📚 Read: If you're launching a mobile game, this could save your career. Matej Lancaric doesn't sugarcoat the harsh reality: most rushed soft launches fail spectacularly. His brutally honest 3-stage blueprint taught me why you need 3-6 months, not weeks, to validate your game. The kill triggers alone are worth the read.

💡Did You Know

Gaming's most famous tomb raider almost had a completely different identity. Toby Gard's original design was a tough South American Latina named Laura Cruz. But co-creator Paul Douglas thought "Lara" sounded more intriguing after consulting a baby names book, he discovered it derives from "Larissa," meaning "citadel," perfect for her guarded personality. The surname change came later when scriptwriter Vicky Arnold randomly flipped through a Derby phonebook, finding "Croft" as a clever evolution from "Cruz" (meaning "cross"). These seemingly minor tweaks transformed the character's entire backstory from South American to British aristocrat.