In 2023, when esports made its debut as a medal event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, it inspired a group of Delhi University students to start ARCADE, the varsity’s first esports and gaming society.
“One day, I’m sure students of DU will be wearing the Indian jersey at international games and bring home laurels for the country,” ARCADE’s founding member Apoorva Anand had told HT City back then.
READ: Asian Games boost: Delhi University gets its first esports society
Now, three years later, the sentiment has finally manifested into reality. Paritosh, a first-year BCom (Hons) student at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College and a member player, recently represented India in Puyo Puyo Champions at the ongoing Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The Rohtak-based gamer reached the quarter-finals, where a 0-5 defeat to South Korea’s Kang Dongshin on Saturday brought his campaign to an end.
The medal he had hoped for may have remained out of reach, but his run put a DU student in the India jersey on the same stage and has inspired his peers and other student societies as well. “It is a proud moment for me,” says Paritosh, adding, “I got the chance to represent my country, and hoped to bring a medal back for the nation.”
A prediction came true
{{/usCountry}}The medal he had hoped for may have remained out of reach, but his run put a DU student in the India jersey on the same stage and has inspired his peers and other student societies as well. “It is a proud moment for me,” says Paritosh, adding, “I got the chance to represent my country, and hoped to bring a medal back for the nation.”
A prediction came true
{{/usCountry}}The full-circle connection was not immediately apparent to Paritosh. He learned that the Asian Games had inspired ARCADE’s formation, upon reading HT City’s 2023 article. Reflecting upon its members’ prediction about a DU student one day wearing the India jersey, he said, “The seniors who said it so shows that they were sure about the players and truly believed in their talent.”
For its founder, Ishwar Prakash Yadav, who now guides the student team while working as the COO of Metanova Esports, the moment felt surreal, but not entirely unexpected.“Somewhere, I was sure this would happen one day. We even said as much in the article published when the society was being created,” he said, adding, “I just didn’t expect it this soon.”
Paritosh had joined ARCADE in August, at the beginning of his college journey. The society’s role in his competitive career has primarily been that of a campus community rather than a professional training ground.
“It’s an organisation by the students, for the students. It gave me a community and support,” said Paritosh. Yadav added, “This community has given me what we give all our members: support, cheering and help in whatever way we can as students and friends.”
Two wins and a quarter-final finish
Making his Asian Games debut, Paritosh finished third in Group B with two victories and two defeats. He began with a 3-0 win over Mongolia’s Munkhzorig Ganbold before edging past Singapore’s Koh Mun June Justin 3-2. Those victories carried him into the quarter-finals, where he faced Kang.
His game of choice may appear deceptively simple to someone encountering it for the first time. Puyo Puyo Champions is a competitive puzzle title in which pairs of coloured blobs, called puyos, fall onto the screen. Connecting four or more of the same colour makes them disappear, but its real challenge lies in creating chains that trigger consecutive combinations and send nuisance puyos onto an opponent’s board.
“It’s easy to learn but very hard to master,” Paritosh had said before of the event, explaining: “It needs quick hands, planning several moves ahead and constantly reading your opponent. You have to know when to attack, when to bait them with a small chain and when to counter their attack with your own chain.”
For this competition cycle, he had been practising for seven to nine hours each day, with support from the Esports Federation of India.
Before wearing the national colours, he described the opportunity as “a responsibility to give back to the nation”. Although his medal bid ended in the last eight, his appearance fulfilled a campus ambition articulated three years ago.
15,000-member strong, but ‘zero recognition’ from DU
Paritosh’s international run comes as ARCADE has grown from a newly formed student group into a community of more than 15,000 members. It has held over 15 events and drawn participation from more than 120 colleges.
Yet, Yadav alleged that the society’s standing within the university remains unchanged.
“We’ve tried to connect with the university dozens of times and get permissions for our events, and it’s still zero. There’s no support from the university or the admins,” he said.
According to him, ARCADE has received neither formal recognition nor funding, and has no faculty members involved. Its activities are supported by brand sponsors or contributions pooled by students, while the absence of venues and permissions frequently forces events to be cancelled.
“Whatever we do, we do on our own,” said Yadav. “That’s massive compared to 2023, even more so because we pulled it off with students only.”
The society may still be waiting for recognition at home, but one of its members has now represented the country abroad. A campus dream born while watching India’s esports contingent at the Asian Games returned to the same stage, this time with a DU student seated at the console.
ARCADE by the numbers
ARCADE by the numbers
| 15,000+ community members |
|---|
| 15+ events held |
| 120+ participating colleges |
| Zero university funding, as per the society's founder |
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