ESports
Global Esports exits competitive gaming, pivots to GE Studios
The Indian organisation is ending its esports operations after winning the 2026 VCT Pacific Stage 2 title, with founder Rushindra Sinha turning its focus towards AI.
Founder Dr Rushindra Sinha said the exit had been under consideration since November 2025. (Photo credit: The Financial Express)
Global Esports is exiting competitive esports after nearly a decade, with founder and CEO Dr Rushindra Sinha announcing that the Indian organisation will transition to GE Studios, an initiative focused on artificial intelligence (AI).
The announcement comes after the organisation’s most successful VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) season.
Global Esports won the VCT Pacific Stage 2 title in September 2026, qualified for international competition and competed at VALORANT Champions in Shanghai.
The decision ends its participation in competitive esports, with its players released to explore opportunities with other teams.
From VCT Pacific champions to an AI studio
Sinha said the organisation had been considering the decision since November 2025, when Riot Games contacted it about its future amid changes to the VCT partnership structure.
“Last November, when the entire partnership structure was changing, when Riot reached out to us and asked us about our future, we told them that 2026 was more than likely going to be our last year in Esports,” Sinha said in a social media post.
Despite the decision, Global Esports went on to win its first VCT Pacific trophy. The organisation’s 2026 roster featured Xavier “xavi8k” Juan, Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza, Go “UdoTan” Kyung-won, Savva “Kr1stal” Fedorov and Kale “Autumn” Dunne.
The five players have been released and are free to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
Explaining the decision, Sinha said the revised partnership structure made it difficult to guarantee the roster’s continuity and justify maintaining an entire competitive organisation around it.
“We tried everything to keep this roster together; they deserved it more than anything or anyone else,” he said.
GE Studios to focus on AI
The organisation’s next phase will be built around GE Studios, which Sinha described as a new chapter intended to use AI to expand on work Global Esports has undertaken over the past decade.
“We are ending our Esports chapter just so that we can pave the way for a brand new chapter,” Sinha said.
Global Esports has operated across multiple gaming titles since its founding in India in 2017, while also building a media operation around gaming content, broadcasts, films and brand campaigns.
The organisation’s existing studio capabilities provide part of the foundation for its next phase, although detailed plans for GE Studios’ products and commercial model have not yet been announced.
What the exit means for South Asian esports
Global Esports was the only organisation from South Asia in the VCT Pacific partnership programme. Its departure marks the end of that direct representation in the league’s partnered structure.
The change comes as Riot Games prepares to move the VCT towards a more tournament-led format in 2027, with open qualifiers creating routes for non-partnered teams to compete for places at international events.
The revised structure means teams will have opportunities to qualify through competition rather than relying exclusively on long-term league partnerships.
For Global Esports, the pivot marks a departure from competitive team operations at the moment of its greatest success in VALORANT.
Its next chapter will depend on how GE Studios translates the organisation’s experience in gaming, production and digital media into AI-led products and services.