India’s next blockbuster game may already be loading. LVL Zero, the country’s first dedicated gaming incubator backed by Mixi Global Investments, Nazara Technologies and Chimera VC, has unveiled the 10 startups graduating from its inaugural 100-day programme, signalling a fresh push to turn India’s gaming talent into globally competitive studios.
Selected from more than 240 applications, the inaugural cohort will showcase their projects at LVL Zero Demo Day 2026, where investors, publishers, platform partners and industry leaders will get a first look at the country’s next generation of game creators.
Launched to bridge the gap between India’s booming player base and the shortage of globally recognised game studios, LVL Zero follows an execution-first model focused on helping early-stage founders build market-ready products rather than simply polished prototypes.
Each participating startup received a $10,000 equity-free grant, alongside access to more than 28 international mentors, publishing expertise, playtesting support, monetisation guidance, fundraising preparation and introductions to global publishers and investors. The programme also connects founders with ecosystem partners including Google Play, ID@Xbox Developer Acceleration Program, AppsFlyer, Gameramp, Lysto and Pubscale.
The incubator compresses startup development into a structured sprint, taking teams through product planning, intensive development and commercial readiness before culminating in Demo Day.
The first cohort reflects the growing diversity of India’s game development landscape. Narrative adventures, psychological horror, cosy storytelling, strategy titles, sandbox simulations and multiplayer experiences all feature in the lineup.
Among the standout studios are Kyrel Games founded by Mani Ghadi and Mayank Singh, developing the emotional puzzle platformer PHi: The Broken Strings; Trojan Productions founded by Vinil Verghese and Sushant Devadhe, working on psychological horror title Trox: The Reversal; Kalp Studio founded by Rishabh Raj, Mannat Jain, and Akshat Sinha, creating the narrative-driven Raahi set in 1990s Goa; and Xigma Games founded by Govardhan Gosavi and Himanshu Manwani, whose latest strategy title Metal Haven follows the success of The Bonfire series, which has crossed 10 million downloads worldwide.
Other teams include Impulse Mechanics founded by Siddharth Gupta with the physics sandbox Mech It Happen!; Wrought Studios founded by Kunal Negi and Srujan Pant a corporate escape-room adventure Last Day Lockdown; YK Game Studio founded by Yash Kaushik a quirky reverse-farming title Chicklet’s Human Products; Arckon Arts family-founded studio led by brothers Dinesh Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, and Praveen Kumar a strategy game Stickman Infinite Kingdom; Prescription Studios the solo venture of developer Vignesh Sathyamoorthy comedic platformer The Misadventures of Spaceman Biff, and Rudrac Games founded by solo developer Venkatesh Muskam co-operative puzzle adventure Twin Flames.
The mentor roster reads like a who’s who of the global games business, featuring experts from Google, ID@Xbox, NCSoft, Fusebox, Gameramp, Rise & Play and several leading publishers, investors and studios.
LVL Zero plans to support more than 100 gaming startups over the next five years, with the broader ambition of helping India evolve from one of the world’s largest gaming markets into a recognised exporter of original intellectual property and globally successful game studios.
Demo Day may mark the end of a 100-day sprint, but for these founders, it’s only the opening level. India’s game development story is no longer waiting for a sequel, it has finally pressed start.
