Highlights
- Krafton India has announced a list of nominees and 17 award categories for the inaugural Krafton India Awards 2025, scheduled for Jan. 9, 2026, in Mumbai.
- The awards span Esports, Influencers, Media, CSR, and KIGI divisions, establishing India’s first large-scale institutional awards platform honoring gaming athletes, creators, innovators, and community leaders.
- The ceremony will follow a dual voting system combining jury evaluation and public voting, which opened on Nov. 26, ensuring both transparency and community engagement.
Krafton India has released the list of 17 categories and nominees for the inaugural Krafton India Awards 2025, slated for Jan. 9, 2026, in Mumbai. Krafton India unveiled the details on Nov. 27, stating that the ceremony aims to honor the “creators, esports athletes, innovators, storytellers, and community leaders shaping India’s dynamic gaming landscape.”
The ceremony will be powered by iQOO and co-powered by Flipkart. The awards span competitive gaming, online creators, broadcast talent, media, and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) community, positioning the event as a broad industry-based platform rather than a title-specific celebration. Krafton has framed the initiative as an annual, long-term IP designed to “celebrate excellence” across India's gaming landscape.
Krafton India Awards 2025 was introduced by Krafton India CEO, Sean Hyunil Sohn, while unveiling Krafton’s India roadmap for 2026. With the awards, Krafton India aims to establish practices observed in the global gaming market and institutionalize India’s first large-scale esports awards system.
Categories and Nominees
The Krafton India Awards 2025 will feature 17 categories, distributed across five major pillars: ‘Esports,’ ‘Influencers,’ ‘Media,’ ‘CSR,’ and ‘KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator (KIGI).’ The categories aim to recognize excellence across “India’s gaming innovation engine,” with people impacting every stage of gaming market growth in the country.
The ‘Esports’ section features several awards, covering athletes, IGL (In-Game Leader) roles, rookies, teams, and support staff. The awards will include Favorite Esports Player of the Year, Rookie Esports Athlete of the Year, Best IGL of the Year, Esports Commentator of the Year (Hindi and English), and Esports Host of the Year.
The ‘Influencers’ section will honor social-first talent shaping gaming viewership and engagement. The award categories will include Influencer of the Year, Rising Creator Award, Favorite Creator of the Year- Male, Favorite Creator of the Year- Female, and the like.
Check out the table for more details about the nominees of the mentioned categories:
| Category | Selected Nominees |
| Influencer of the Year | Jonathan, Mortal, Snax, Scout, LoLzZz, Shreeman Legend |
| Rising Creator Award | SMR, Aman, Mamba, Admino, Zgod, Noob Pari, Saumraj |
| Fans' Choice: Favorite Creator – Male | Jonathan, Scout, Dynamo, LoLzZz, SayipOP |
| Fans' Choice: Favorite Creator – Female | Kaashvi, Payal, Sharkshe, Dobby, Mizo |
| Best IGL (In-Game Leader) of the Year | TR Jelly, OG Aaru, VXT Saumraj, K9 Omega, RNTx Punk |
| Rookie Esports Athlete of the Year | FS Levi, Ax Devotee, Soul Thunder, Nonx Kalyug, TT Beardbaba |
| Esports Commentator of the Year (Hindi) | Ankibot, Spero, Mazy, RA1, Ocean |
| Esports Commentator of the Year (English) | Nekrou, Icybaby, Jonny, Fyxs, Salty |
| Esports Host of the Year | Rohit Varghese, Suren Sundaram, Sameena Anwar, Darshita, Ravin Kundu |
| Fans' Choice: Favorite Esports Player of the Year | GodL Jonathan, Soul Goblin, Soul Nakul, GodL Admino, OG AKop |
The 'Media' segment will acknowledge journalists, platforms, and reporting excellence for gaming and esports-related coverage, whereas the KIGI section will highlight the talent in gaming innovation and the development pipeline.
The award ceremony uses a dual system for voting, with jury selection and public voting. The dual structure ensures transparency while balancing credibility with engagement. Public voting has started on Nov. 26, according to Krafton India’s announcement.
