Nagaland’s Hornbill Esports Festival 2025 Sees Record Turnout

• Nagaland hosts the 2nd Hornbill Esports Festival with a huge number of pan-India participants.
• The prize pool rose 66.7% to ₹10 lakh from last year.
• Officials highlight esports as a billion-dollar industry with a strong career path.

Nagaland's esports sector is surging, as the state kicked off its second Hornbill Esports Festival on Dec 8, at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima. The tournament attracted many competitive gamers across India, showcasing its growing national appeal.

The Hornbill Esports Festival 2025 prize pool has been set to ₹10 lakh, up from the amount of ₹6 lakh slated for the previous year. This depicts an increment of almost 66.7% in the prize pool. The esports festival of Nagaland also offers several games such as BGMI, Mobile Legends 5v5, E-Chess, E-Football, and FC 25. Reportedly, registrations this year have surpassed 512 teams and 240 individual competitors, making it the state's largest esports participation history.

Esports Craze in India’s Nagaland: The Hornbill Esports Festival 2025

The Hornbill Esports Festival 2025 attempts to combine competitive gaming, music, and young culture. The Esports Association of Nagaland (ESAN) is in charge of organizing the event, which is supported by the Department of Youth Resources and Sports. The program represents Nagaland's larger effort to professionalize esports.

At the inaugural ceremony, Abu Metha, Chief Minister's Advisor and IDAN Chairman, complimented the state for adopting esports. He characterized it as "a modern-day trend and a billion-dollar industry that cannot be ignored." Metha's words highlighted Nagaland's dedication to providing its youth with opportunities that have growing global prospects.

Metha also remarked that esports today provide significant job opportunities not only for athletes, but also for producers, broadcasters, and game developers. He stated that international tournaments often have multimillion-dollar prize pools, showing how quickly the industry is growing.

Based on this global boom of esports, Metha highlighted Nagaland's own advancement, citing a recent triumph by a Naga player in the Khelo India Esports Championships, which reflects the growing number of regional talents.

With over 300 national-level gamers present, the festival considered each participant to be "already a champion," creating a positive atmosphere for the competition. Attendees were invited to engage in the overall Hornbill experience, including the games, conversations, and cultural mix, transforming the venue into a hotspot for play and exchange. The two-day festival ends today, Dec 9, with the tournament finals and a cultural display.