For years, the running joke about Indian game development was that it barely existed outside mobile time-killers and cricket apps. That joke doesn't really land anymore. In 2026, Indian studios have a Sony-backed narrative game with Bollywood actors doing motion-captured performances, a battle royale with a real esports circuit and a crore-scale prize pool, and a sequel to the one Indian game most people can actually name. Here's an honest, updated look at what's actually real, live, or genuinely on the way from India's game development scene right now.
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This article was originally published as a list of upcoming Indian indie titles. Several of those projects never shipped or went quiet years ago, so this update replaces them with games that are confirmed, playable, or backed by real studios and publishers today.
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Why Indian Game Development Looks Different in 2026
The biggest shift isn't any single game; it's the support structure around them. Sony now runs a dedicated India Hero Project incubator that funds and mentors local studios. NODWIN Gaming and Nodding Head Games ran the first-ever India Games Showcase alongside Summer Game Fest this year, putting 40 India-made titles in front of a global audience. That's a very different starting point from 2020, when most "Indian games" were solo game-jam projects hoping to find a publisher.
Games Made in India Worth Knowing About
1. Raji: An Ancient Epic (and its sequel, Raji: Kaliyuga)
Raji: An Ancient Epic, from Pune-based Nodding Heads Games, is still the reference point for Indian game development, and for good reason. It's an isometric action-adventure where you play as Raji, a girl chosen by the gods to rescue her kidnapped brother from a demon army, with visuals drawing on Pahari painting and medieval Rajasthani architecture. The game has crossed two million players across platforms since its 2020 launch, picked up a free Enhanced Edition with Hindi voiceovers in 2022, arrived on PS5 in 2024, and is still getting community support years after release.
The bigger news: a full sequel, Raji: Kaliyuga, was announced with a cinematic trailer at an Xbox Partner Presents showcase. It's set six years after the first game, switches from isometric to full third-person action, and lets players swap between Raji and her now-grown brother Darsh as dual protagonists with different abilities. No release date is confirmed yet.
2. Forgotten Fields
Forgotten Fields, by Goa-based one-person studio Frostwood Interactive and published by Dino Digital, is a story-driven, low-poly adventure that was still in development when this list first ran. It's out now and has been for a while: it launched on Steam, GOG, and itch.io in April 2021. You play as Sid, a novelist with writer's block who returns to his childhood home in a fictionalised Goa one last time before it's sold, revisiting old friends and memories along the way. Reviews on Steam sit in "Mostly Positive" territory, with most praise going to its soundtrack and setting rather than its combat, since there isn't any; it's a slower, reflective game.
3. Indus Battle Royale
This one replaces Rogue Heist from the original version of this list. Rogue Heist, SuperGaming's earlier 6v6 heist shooter, effectively went quiet after its 2020 launch and was pulled from the Play Store. SuperGaming's follow-up bet paid off far bigger: Indus Battle Royale, an "Indo-futuristic" mobile battle royale set on a fictional planet inspired by the Indus Valley Civilisation, launched in October 2024 with over 14 million pre-registrations and briefly topped the iOS free-games chart. It's kept getting content updates since, including new weapons and Indian-mythology-inspired characters, and SuperGaming has built a real esports layer around it with the Indus International Tournament, which carried a prize pool of roughly ₹2.5 crore.
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[Image note: no existing image in this article represents Indus Battle Royale. A real screenshot or official key art from SuperGaming's press kit should be used here, not an AI-generated image, since this is a specific existing product.]
4. Curse of the Mask: Kaal Yoddha
Mumbai-based Treta Studios is building Kaal Yoddha as a dark, mythology-rooted souls-like where you play Prince Avyaan, an archer and swordsman fighting demons on a cursed island corrupted by ancient masks. A free Steam demo is already live, covering roughly two hours including a boss fight, and the studio has said it's prioritising honest gameplay footage over cinematic trailers. Early community feedback has flagged rough controls and inconsistent voice acting, which the developers appear to be treating as a to-do list rather than dismissing, and a fuller release is expected later in 2026.
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[Image note: no existing image represents Kaal Yoddha. A real screenshot from the Steam demo or Treta Studios' official assets should be used, not AI-generated art, since it's a specific real game.]
5. Mukti
Mukti is the most ambitious "serious" game to come out of India's indie scene so far. Developed by Mumbai's underDOGS Studio under Sony's India Hero Project incubator, it's a first-person narrative exploration game set in a mid-2000s Indian museum, where protagonist Arya investigates her missing grandfather and, along the way, uncovers a story about human trafficking. Rather than relying on motion capture, the team filmed live-action performances from actors including Ahilya Bamroo and veteran theatre performer M.K. Raina and wove them into the game. It supports PS5 haptics and adaptive triggers, with dual Hindi and English voice acting planned for its 2026 release.
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[Image note: no existing image represents Mukti. Use official artwork from Mukti's PlayStation press materials or its official site, not an AI-generated image, since it depicts real actors and a real product.]
A Reality Check: Not Every Big Announcement Ships
It's worth being honest about the flip side too. Mumbai Gullies, GameEon Studios' long-hyped open-world game set across different eras of Mumbai, is the clearest example. Its 2021 trailer went viral and promised an India-made answer to GTA. Five years and one engine migration later, founder Nikhil Malankar posted publicly that development had stopped, laying out an audited financial breakdown of what went wrong along the way. It's a useful reminder that a great trailer is not the same thing as a shipped game, and it's part of why this article now leans on titles that are either already out or backed by funded studios with a public roadmap.
| Game | Studio | Status (2026) | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raji: An Ancient Epic | Nodding Heads Games | Released, still supported | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, mobile |
| Raji: Kaliyuga | Nodding Heads Games | Announced, in development | TBA |
| Forgotten Fields | Frostwood Interactive | Released (2021) | PC (Steam, GOG, itch.io) |
| Indus Battle Royale | SuperGaming | Live, ongoing updates | Android, iOS |
| Curse of the Mask: Kaal Yoddha | Treta Studios | Free demo live, full release later in 2026 | PC |
| Mukti | underDOGS Studio | In development, 2026 release planned | PlayStation 5, PC |
| Mumbai Gullies | GameEon Studios | Development stopped (May 2026) | Was targeting PC |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most successful Indian-made video game so far?
By reach, it's a close call between Raji: An Ancient Epic, which has crossed two million players across consoles, PC and mobile since 2020, and Indus Battle Royale, which drew over 14 million pre-registrations before its 2024 mobile launch and has an active esports scene behind it.
Reached over 2, Is Raji: Kaliyuga releasing in 2026?
No official release date has been confirmed yet. Nodding Heads Games has shown a cinematic reveal trailer, but no gameplay footage or launch window has been announced so far.
What happened to Rogue Heist?
Rogue Heist, SuperGaming's earlier multiplayer heist shooter, was pulled from the Play Store not long after its 2020 launch and never regained momentum. The studio's later mobile battle royale, Indus, has become its flagship title instead.
Are Indian game studios getting funding and support now?
Yes, more than before. Sony's India Hero Project incubator has backed titles like Mukti with funding and mentorship, and events like the India Games Showcase, run alongside Summer Game Fest, are giving Indian studios direct visibility on a global stage.
