Mumbai, India – February 2026 – desportz, India’s education-led esports development platform, has announced a landmark strategic partnership with PlayVS. The partnership is to introduce gaming concepts as an award-winning scholastic gaming curriculum. It needs to be introduced across Indian schools. This collaboration marks a defining moment in the evolution of esports within the Indian education system. It will be transitioning gaming from a purely recreational activity into a structured learning pathway. It will no longer be limited to being a competitive activity. Also, it will be curriculum-integrated. The core concepts will be aligned with the national academic objectives.
Building A Structured And Responsible Esports Ecosystem In India
Since its inception, Desportz has been committed to developing a structured and responsible esports framework for Indian students. It focuses on connecting the student’s interest in gaming with the measurable academic outcomes. Also, it connects digital literacy and long-term career awareness. The partnership with PlayVS represents a natural progression of the mission. For the first time, there has been a fully designed and education-aligned gaming curriculum. It will be introduced into the Indian K-12 schools. The schools will be of grade 6 and above. The offerings are as follows:
- Digital literacy development
- health and wellness awareness
- STEAM-focused learning modules
- career exploitation in technology, media, and design
- collaboration and critical thinking skill building
Compared to the tournament-only models that are focused exclusively on competitive play, gaming concepts serve as a structured academic program. It is complete with the lesson plans and implementation frameworks. Also, there is huge educator support. All of this ensures that gaming becomes a tool for learning. It is not simply entertainment.
Aligning With India's National Education Vision
The introduction of gaming concepts is happening at a time when India’s education ecosystem has been undergoing transformative reform. It falls under the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). NEP 2020 emphasizes the follows:
- Experimental learning
- Multidisciplinary exposure
- Holistic development
- Technology integration in classrooms
- Skill-based and career-oriented education
Gaming concepts align directly with these objectives. It has been integrating the experiential and the technology-driven learning into mainstream schooling. “India’s students deserve educational models that reflect the realities of the digital world that they are growing up in”, said Aditya Kailas Nair, Director of desportz. He continued, “This partnership allows us to bring a globally recognized curriculum to India. It will ensure it is locally contextualized and responsibly implemented within our academic framework. Gaming has thus now become a powerful medium for learning when it is structured correctly, and that is what we are looking forward to building.”
Addressing A Critical Gap In The Ed-Tech Landscape
The Asia-Pacific ed-tech market has experienced rapid growth in test preparation. Also, the growth has been felt in terms of coding boot camps and adult upskilling. The K-12 segment has largely lacked structured as well as credit-eligible programs. All of these must be focused on digital gaming education. India is known for being the home to one of the world’s largest youth populations. It is also one of the fastest-growing gaming markets globally. It both presents an opportunity as well as a responsibility. Students have already been engaging with gaming as a cultural and digital phenomenon. The question has never been whether gaming will be a part of their life or not. The real question is how it will be guided constructively. In this regard, let’s point out the fact that the desportz–PlayVS partnership will be answering the question by providing structured curriculum delivery. In addition, it will also be offering the teacher training and support systems. It will ensure the responsible implementation through the lesson plans. It will connect gaming to the academic and career pathways. The initiative moves the conversation beyond the eSports as a competition. It will be positioning it within education as a skill-building discipline.
Empowering Educators And Schools
A critical component of the rollout strategy has been the ease of adoption for the schools across the board, including CBSE, ICSE, and state boards. The program has been designed to be delivered by educators to the students. It also applies to those without any prior gaming experience. The process will be done through detailed lesson plans in addition to professional development and teacher training. Also, there will be implementation guidelines in addition to the ongoing institutional support. All of this removes the barriers for the schools and ensures that the gaming education has been implemented responsibly and effectively. Integrating the curriculum rather than the standalone events ensures that desportz aims to embed the sports within the academic fabric of institutions. It won’t be any more just an extracurricular novelty. Rather, it will be a structured learning pathway.
India's Growing Role In The Global Gaming Economy
India’s gaming ecosystem has entered a rapid growth phase. It has been drawing significant international attention in addition to investment. The expansion of the organized eSports initiatives, in addition to the major global investment commitments highlight the country’s strategic importance in the global gaming economy. Also, it highlights infrastructure development. However, sustainable growth in eSports requires more than the tournaments and viewership numbers. It depends on the talent development pipelines. By introducing gaming concepts at the school level, desportz has been helping build foundational digital competencies. In addition, it has been raising awareness of the diverse career opportunities in gaming and technology. The focus is on ethical and wellness-focused engagement with gaming. Also, it prioritizes the structured progression from school-level exposure to higher education and industry roles. The long-term vision ensures that India’s growth in gaming has been supported by an educated and skilled generation of students.
From Interest To Industry: Creating Career Awareness
Gaming is no longer limited to professional players. There is global gaming industry encompasses careers in game design and software development. Also, there are plenty of people working in sectors like broadcast production as well as event management. The focus is also on covering areas like marketing, media, and data analytics in addition to cybersecurity. Through gaming concepts, students gain exposure to the broader ecosystem that has been surrounding eSports and gaming. It has been helping them understand the interdisciplinary nature of the industry. Awareness is critical in a country where career exploitation has often been limited to the traditional streams. By bridging the classroom learning with real-world industry pathways, desportz has been reinforcing its commitment to education-first eSports development.
A Phased Rollout With Long-Term Vision
The partnership agreement begins with the immediate engagement efforts aimed at onboarding leading institutions in preparation for the upcoming academic cycles. The key rollout priorities include pilot implementations with select partner schools. Also, there is an importance of regional educator training programs in addition to the curriculum localization as well as contextual adaptation. There is a value of institutional onboarding support in addition to the long-term integration strategy development. The phased approach ensures quality, scalability, and sustainability. Compared to the rapid and unstructured expansion, desportz has been focused on building a durable educational framework. It aligns with the institutional standards as well as student well-being.
Reinforcing Responsible Esports Development
At its core, desportz was founded with the objective of creating a responsible and education-led eSports ecosystem in India. It means prioritizing student well-being in addition to promoting balanced digital habits. Also, it has been encouraging teamwork and collaboration in addition to ensuring inclusivity and accessibility. There is a prime focus on maintaining alignment with the academic values. The collaboration with PlayVS strengthens the mission by introducing a globally tested curriculum within a carefully structured Indian context.
A Defining Step Forward
The introduction of the gaming concepts into the Indian schools represents more than a partnership announcement. It is about signaling the beginning of a structural shift in how gaming has been perceived within education. There is a shift from recreation to responsibility. Also, the shift is from competition to curriculum and from hobby to holistic skill development. India has been continuing to evolve as a global digital powerhouse, and there are plenty of initiatives that have been ensuring that the next generation is not just consuming technology. It is understanding it, building it, and leading with it. For the schools as well as other educational institutions that have been interested in exploring implementation opportunities, Desportz will be announcing the engagement sessions in addition to the partnership details in the coming months.
About desportz
desportz has established itself in the form of an Indian-based eSports and digital sports development program. It is dedicated to building a structured, responsible, and education-aligned gaming ecosystem. The curriculum design, in addition to the institutional partnerships, helps students connect their interest in gaming with academic growth. Also, there is educator engagement in addition to the industry collaboration that has been promoting digital literacy, in addition to long-term career pathways.
