Chennai — Skyesports, a leading esports and gaming IP plus community builder, has joined hands with The GIANT Hunt, the flagship anime intellectual property from IMAGE Infotainment Limited, as its end-to-end execution partner.
At the heart of The GIANT Hunt is a global anime and manga art contest featuring a ₹3 crore prize pool, alongside an official attempt at the Guinness World Records title for the world’s largest anime art contest, culminating in a two-day anime festival and prize distribution ceremony . The initiative aims to bring together artists, students, creators and anime enthusiasts from across the world, while building a global platform for creative talent from India.
What makes The GIANT Hunt a unique competition is that, in addition to giving creators a grand opportunity to showcase their work, it also provides non-creator anime fans with a platform to learn, build their skills and confidently create their own original characters and stories. Through structured learning, guided tutorials and expert-led masterclasses, the initiative aims to nurture the next generation of creators and give aspiring artists the confidence and skills to take their first steps towards creating original intellectual property.
Adding further global credibility to the initiative is its international jury, comprising accomplished professionals and experts from the anime and manga space. Their experience and expertise will bring an international perspective to the evaluation of entries and provide participants with an opportunity to have their work assessed by established voices in the field.
As part of the partnership, Skyesports will work closely with IMAGE Infotainment Limited to plan, manage and execute The GIANT Hunt in India. The mandate will encompass event operations, production, gaming activations, sponsor deliverables, creator engagement, on-ground logistics and other key elements of the festival experience.
The partnership comes at a time when anime, gaming and creator culture are increasingly converging to shape India’s youth and entertainment landscape. By bringing these communities together through a large-scale platform, The GIANT Hunt aims to create meaningful opportunities for emerging creators while contributing to the growth of India’s wider AVGC and digital entertainment ecosystem.
Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO, Skyesports, said, “Anime and gaming are becoming defining pillars of youth culture in India and an important part of the country’s growing AVGC ecosystem. At Skyesports, we’ve always believed in building communities, not just events. Alongside our work in esports and gaming, The GIANT Hunt gives us an exciting opportunity to bring creators, fans, artists, gamers and brands together at scale. Through this partnership, we want to help build a stronger creative ecosystem and contribute to India’s emergence as a global hub for animation, gaming and digital entertainment.”
The GIANT Hunt builds on IMAGE Infotainment Limited’s three-decade legacy in creative education and its experience of training nearly 3.5 lakh learners across age groups and levels. The initiative represents a natural extension of IMAGE’s longstanding work in nurturing talent, taking that expertise a step further by creating a global platform for aspiring anime and manga creators.
Kumar Kannan, MD & CEO, IMAGE Infotainment Limited, said, “The GIANT Hunt has been built with the ambition of creating a platform where creativity, anime culture and community can come together at an unprecedented scale. As that vision grows, having the right execution partner becomes extremely important. Skyesports brings extensive experience in building large-scale youth-focused gaming and entertainment experiences in India. Together, we look forward to creating an experience that brings creators, fans, brands and the wider anime community closer together.”
For Skyesports, the partnership also builds on its continued expansion across the AVGC industry, extending its presence beyond esports into gaming, animation, digital entertainment and youth culture.
Together, Skyesports and The GIANT Hunt aim to build one of India’s largest anime and creator ecosystems, bringing together artists, gamers, creators, brands, publishers and fans under one platform. The larger vision is to create an enduring platform for anime culture in the country while helping strengthen India’s position as a global destination for anime, gaming and creative talent.