DreamHack and Hyderabad Comic Con 2024 events wrapped up after a three-day celebration of gaming and pop culture. The community driven events took place at the Hitex Exhibition Centre, Hyderabad from 15 to 17 November 2024. This year in Hyderabad, Nodwin Gaming expanded the Comic Con offering by extending to a three-day format to include DreamHack India.
With a footfall of more than 40,000 attendees, the events brought together gamers, comic book fans, creators, and pop culture enthusiasts in a space where esports and fandom converged. This time DreamHack, an esports and gaming event was included with the same ticket as Hyderabad Comic Con. The partners for the event included Monster Energy, Intel, and Qiddiya Play Life. The event’s official ticketing partner was Insider, who ensured an accessible ticketing process for the attendees.
Below are the highlights from the three days:
Day 1
The first day of DreamHack kicked off esports tournaments like the Call of Duty: Mobile tournament Snapdragon Pro Series, BGMI tournament Pan Fest, Omen Valorant Campus Quest Season 2 and KO Fight Night which involved fighting games like Street Fighter VI and Tekken 8. At the Konami Zone, well known gamers such as Jonathan and Techno Gamerz fought each other in an eFootball showdown.
For the Snapdragon Pro Series, Godlike Esports and Team XLR8 were the standout teams in the initial rounds, securing two wins each in their group games. As one of DreamHack India’s marquee events, the final rounds of the Omen Valorant Campus Quest Season 2 featured Amigos Esports dominating Day 1 with two wins in two matches. Nurpu (Maharaja) emerged as the top performer of the day out of 32 participants, cementing their spot in the finals.
In addition to these, the Chess tournament in the Rapid format kicked off alongside Retro and Board Games tournaments, drawing enthusiasts from all age groups.
The Meet & Greet Zone for the first day, featured gaming personalities like Ketan Patel (K18), Harmandeep Singh (Mavi), Ankkita Chauhan (AnkkitaC), and Sunny Jha (Pitaji Plays), who interacted and connected with fans.
Hyderabad Comic Con celebrated the comic book debuts by Indian publications such as Holy Cow Entertainment, Bullseye Press, and Savio Mascarenhas, along with the launch of The Adventures of Kikiboo. The first day of Comic Con featured sessions with Amar Chitra Katha and the lively Comic Con Jukebox: Anime Playlist with Daisuki for fans of all ages. The day also included comedy sets by Azeem Banatwalla and The Internet Said So members – Aadar Malik, Neville Shah, Kautuk Srivastava and Varun Thakur. The day ended with a massive cosplay contest and the Indian Championship of Cosplay 2025 Hyderabad Qualifier, where the city’s most creative talents took the stage.
Day 2
DreamHack’s BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Zone sold out its tickets for this year’s edition. Gamers from across the country brought their own setups to compete in titles including eFootball, The Finals, World Cricket Championship 3 (WCC 3), Brawlhalla, Counter-Strike 2, Spectre Divide, and many more video games that they played together.
GodLike Esports, Vibrance Esports, XLR8, and Anthem showcased their dominance during the Snapdragon Pro Series (Call of Duty: Mobile). Aditya “The Dark Lord” Verma emerged victorious in the Street Fighter 6 segment of KO Fight Night.
After intense semi-final matches, Team LFO, Team Cheems, Team Payback, and AMIGOS Esports qualified for the grand finals of the Omen Valorant Campus Quest Season 2. Meanwhile, Wagh Suyog won the Rapid Chess tournament and took home the Rs 3 lakh prize pool championship.
Players also turned out in large numbers to participate in the Retro and Board Games tournaments, adding to the gaming atmosphere.
The Meet & Greet Zone today featured 8Bit Creatives’ gamers such as Raj Varma (Snax), Payal Dhare (Payal Gaming), Parv Singh (Regaltos), Salman Ahmad (8bit Mamba), Monika Jeph (Sherlock Live), Nishant Williams (Willy Gamingg), Mithul Nayak (Binks), Dhwani Bhatt (Pinkcess), and Dhruv Sangwan (Dhruv), who connected with fans through their gaming insights.
The second day of Hyderabad Comic Con included special sessions from Maruti Suzuki Arena, Crunchyroll, and Yamaha Racing. Attendees were treated to comic book debuts, including The Warrior God and Hallubol’s Abba Aari (the sequel to Mard Bann), alongside the cover launch of Vivek Goel’s Weapons of Mass Extinction: Stage 1 – Blood of The Last Asuran.
Music enthusiasts danced to a DJ set by Karan Kanchan, while comedian Ravi Gupta (a.k.a. Shudh Desi Comic) entertained audiences with his humour.
The cosplayers competed for a prize pool exceeding Rs 5 lakhs, including a daily grand cash prize of Rs 50,000. The participants battled it out to represent Hyderabad at the Indian Championship of Cosplay 2025 Qualifiers, aiming for a daily reward of Rs 1.25 lakhs.
Day 3
The final day of DreamHack 2024 concluded with finales for several esports tournaments. GodLike Esports emerged victorious in the Snapdragon Pro Series, securing the title and a share of the Rs 24 lakh prize pool. In the Omen Valorant Campus Quest Season 2 finals, Amigos Esports triumphed with their strategic play, winning the Rs 3 lakh prize. In KO Fight Night, Player Wasif Bilal (YoshiKiller) claimed victory in Tekken 8, taking home Rs 1.6 lakh while Sahbaan (SAK) emerged victorious in the Street Fighter 6 segment. The Blitz and Rapid Chess Tournament crowned Wagh Suyog as its champion.
The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Zone saw players competing in various games on their own peripherals. The retro zone included retro videogame classics like Pac-Man, and a collection of 16 beloved board games to keep attendees engaged.
The Meet & Greet Zones powered by official talent partners 8-Bit Creatives enabled fans to meet well-known gaming personalities, including Raj Varma (Snax), Naman Mathur (Mortal), Payal Dhare (Payal Gaming), and Kashvi Hiranandani (Kaashvi), among others.
Hyderabad Comic Con’s final day featured exclusive comic book launches such as The Warrior God and Weapons of Mass Extinction: Stage 1 – Blood of The Last Asuran. The cosplay contest saw cosplayers battling for a chance to represent Hyderabad at the Indian Championship of Cosplay 2025 Qualifiers.
Comic Con hosted special sessions with creators, fireside chats, and live DJ sets, with comedy acts by well-known stand-up comedians like Syed Bashaar and Harsh Gujral. The Geek Fruit session brought iconic gaming theme songs to life to add to the power-packed weekend.
Nodwin Gaming co-founder and MD Akshat Rathee expressed, “DreamHack X Hyderabad Comic Con was truly an exciting milestone for Nodwin Gaming! Bringing together the pop culture and gaming communities one step closer to Nodwin Gaming’s vision of offering multiple entertainment touchpoints for the youth. From comic book launches, spectacular cosplay showcases, music and comedy performances, and geeky shopping to esports tournaments, open for all gaming & also, chess, retro & tabletop games- we are grateful to have the opportunity to provide 40,000 plus visitors the opportunity to experience this exciting world. We can’t thank the community and our amazing sponsors enough for the overwhelming response, this only encourages us to curate more elevated experiences like this. See you next year! “
Comic Con India founder Jatin Varma shared, “The passion and enthusiasm of our fans encouraged us to extend the convention to three days in Hyderabad this year. Looking at how pop-culture enthusiasts in the city have embraced the spirit of comic books, anime, gaming and everything in between, it has truly exceeded our expectations. It has always been our commitment to enable this community to grow, and we look forward to returning with even more excitement next year!”
