Mumbai, May 11 -- The Esports Foundation (EF) and JioBLAST have announced a strategic partnership to launch India Rising: Road to EWC, a national competition pathway and a festival hosted in India ahead of the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), the world's largest esports and gaming event.

The future vision of the partnership beyond 2026 will be formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop the ecosystem, beginning with India Rising: Road to EWC as a long-term flagship property connected to EWC in India, according to a release.

Delivered in collaboration with Jio (for use of its digital platforms) and Chess.com, India Rising will feature international nationwide open qualifiers for Chess, culminating in a grand fi...