IICT's MoU spree, Digital Domain's Hyderabad studio, and the post-RMG ban reckoning dominate a busy week
Three distinct currents ran through this week's AVGC-XR news, and together they tell a coherent story about where Indian creative industries are headed in 2026. The most consequential thread was institutional: IICT signed five MoUs at FICCI FRAMES — with MPA India, C-DIT Kerala, ESGF, RioWood and Warm Up Ventures — consolidating its position as the central node in India's creative-tech policy architecture. That the C-DIT partnership also feeds directly into Kerala's planned AVGC-XR Centre of Excellence gives the announcements genuine structural weight, not merely ceremonial significance. The second thread was inbound investment. Digital Domain opening its first India studio in Hyderabad is the kind of signal the industry has been waiting for: a globally recognised VFX house planting a flag here rather than simply outsourcing to existing vendors. Tencent's tentative return, modest as the Rs 10 crore figure is, similarly suggests that the regulatory frost around Chinese capital may be thawing. The third thread — and the most unresolved — is the fallout from India's real-money gaming restrictions. Fortune India's question about esports filling the gap is the right one to be asking, though the honest answer remains unclear. Against this backdrop, the $26 billion 2030 projection for the sector as a whole provides useful context: the ambition is large, but the policy and investment decisions being made right now will determine whether that number is a forecast or a fantasy.
This week
- IICT signs five MoUs at FICCI FRAMES 2026
Naming all five MoU partners — MPA India, C-DIT Kerala, ESGF, RioWood and Warm Up Ventures — at FICCI FRAMES gives this a specificity that transforms it from a press release into a meaningful map of IICT's strategic alliances.
- Digital Domain opens first India studio in Hyderabad
A globally recognised VFX brand choosing Hyderabad for its first India studio signals that the country is being seen as a creative destination, not merely a cost-arbitrage location.
- IICT signs five MoUs to strengthen India's AVGC-XR and creative-tech ecosystem
The Economic Times coverage of the same IICT MoU cluster amplifies its industry reach and confirms the story has legs beyond trade publications.
- C-DIT partners with Indian Institute of Creative Technologies on AVGC-XR Centre of Excellence in Thiruvananthapuram
C-DIT's pact with IICT ties Kerala's state digital infrastructure directly into the national AVGC-XR Centre of Excellence framework, giving the initiative administrative and technical grounding.
- India's real money online gaming ban among key Asia developments
India's real-money gaming restrictions are now registering in pan-Asian sector reporting, which means the reputational and regulatory ripple effects extend well beyond domestic policy circles.
- Can esports become India's next big gaming engine after RMG ban?
The esports-as-successor question is the correct strategic framing for the post-RMG landscape, and the fact that serious business press is asking it indicates the industry is beginning to reckon with the structural shift.
- Tencent returns to India with Rs 10 crore gaming push
Tencent's return, however modest the initial sum, matters as a sentiment indicator for foreign capital appetite in Indian gaming after years of regulatory caution.
- India's AVGC-XR sector projected to reach $26 billion by 2030
The $26 billion 2030 projection provides the benchmark against which every policy announcement and inbound investment this week should be measured.
- Canvas launches Project Maya, India's first short-form anime series with 30 animators
Project Maya's short-form, vertical-first format and 30-strong Indian animator roster represents a genuinely new production model for anime-adjacent content, not just another IP announcement.
- Medical students at AIIMS Delhi to train in virtual-reality centre
AIIMS Delhi's VR training centre is a concrete example of XR moving from creative-industry talking point into high-stakes professional application.
- Indian folklore fantasy thriller 'Vvaan: Force of the Forest' in development
'Vvaan: Force of the Forest' reflects a widening appetite for IP rooted in Indian folklore, a trend with long-term implications for how the sector differentiates itself globally.
- The best VFX in Haiwaan is the bit you never spot
The invisible VFX approach in Haiwaan is worth noting as craft philosophy: it suggests Indian productions are maturing beyond the impulse to use effects as spectacle.