Riot Games concluded its V5 campaign this week, marking the five-year anniversary of VALORANT in South Asia with a series of community-driven activations and high-profile out-of-home displays. The initiative paid homage to local player culture through animated shorts, user-generated content, campus murals and college events that reflected the late-night gaming sessions and camaraderie forged in cyber cafés.

In major urban centers—including Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon and Kota—LED billboards featured in-game callouts such as “Kal aana kal” and “Skin dede bro,” phrases selected by the community to mirror everyday VALORANT banter. In Kota, traditional roadside displays mimicked the celebratory style used to honor top academic performers, while Radiant-ranked players were spotlighted on special “VAL Toppers” boards timed to coincide with IIT-JEE Mains result announcements.

During the VCSA Split 2 finals, Riot set up an open-access booth at Phoenix Market City in Mumbai, inviting seasoned gamers and newcomers alike to experience the shooter firsthand. Attendees received custom marshmallows bearing agent icons and limited-edition T-shirts emblazoned with V5 motifs. The campaign’s finale took place at ApeCity in Navi Mumbai, where India’s first organization-led gaming café hosted friendly showmatches, additional game demos and a comedy performance by Raunaq Rajani.

According to the Lumikai State of India Interactive Media and Gaming Report for fiscal 2024, India’s gaming market generated $3.8 billion and is projected to surpass $9 billion by fiscal 2029. Non-metro gamers accounted for two-thirds of the audience, while 43 percent were first-time earners aged 18 to 30, underlining gaming’s expanding cultural and economic influence. Riot’s V5 campaign sought to capture this moment, positioning VALORANT not merely as a pastime but as a language of connection, celebration and shared identity across South Asia.