Words: Saeed Akhtar
With 16 universities, a ₹10 lakh prize pool, and a phone to prove itself, OnePlus is going all in on Gen Z gaming.
OnePlus is putting its money where its marketing is. The company just kicked off the third edition of Campus Dominate, its collegiate esports tournament, and this time it’s going bigger. Consider this for size: 16 universities, eight cities, and a prize pool that’s doubled to ₹10 lakh.
I was on the ground for the opening leg at G H Raisoni College of Engineering and Management in Pune on June 29th, and if that turnout is anything to go by, OnePlus has tapped into something real. Over 3,500 students showed up, with nearly 900 of them competing directly in BGMI matches. The energy on campus was every bit as electric as you’d see from a genuine sporting event, consisting of cheering sections, nervous pre-match huddles, the works. By the end of the day, Pune had crowned its first Campus Dominate champion, who’s now booked a direct seat at the Grand LAN Finale in August.
The Campus Dominate format is straightforward. Each of the 16 participating campuses will run its own BGMI 4v4 qualifiers, with the winning squad from each college advancing to the finale in New Delhi. Every match, from the campus rounds to the grand finale, will be played exclusively on the OnePlus Nord 6, which is as much a hardware showcase as it is a tournament rule. OnePlus wants competitors and spectators alike walking away having actually felt the phone’s gaming performance for themselves.
Beyond the tournament bracket, there’s a full roadshow built around it. A branded Gaming Truck is making the rounds across Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Noida, bringing with it hands-on device zones, creator meet-and-greets, and casual side activities for students who aren’t necessarily hardcore competitors but still want in on the action. OnePlus says over 50 creators will be involved across the tour, which should help push this beyond campus grounds and into the group chats and timelines of gamers who never set foot on these campuses. The Pune event was kicked off by Esports pro and content creator RonaK, real name Harpreet Singh Janjuha, who regaled the crowd with his exploits and advice on how to make it big in the gaming arena.
Last year’s edition of Campus Dominate pulled in around 12,000 student participants and gave rise to Nebula Esports, a team that used their Campus Dominate ’25 win as a springboard into the professional circuit. That’s the pitch OnePlus is leaning on this year: an actual viable pipeline into India’s esports ecosystem, however early that stage still is.
Whether Campus Dominate ends up being remembered as a genuine talent incubator or just a very well-produced device demo will depend on what happens over the next two months. But judging by what I saw in Pune, the student appetite for organized collegiate esports in India is very real. And right now, OnePlus is one of the few brands actually showing up for it.
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