Nongshim RedForce win BMIC 2026 in Mumbai as India takes fourth to sixth place and iQOO SouL book a Global Championship slot
Nongshim RedForce, the Korea Esports League 2026 champions, won the BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA INTERNATIONAL CUP (BMIC) 2026 at the Dome, SVP Indoor Stadium (NSCI), Mumbai. They finished on 233 points, with five Winner Winner Chicken Dinners (WWCDs) and a tournament-high 148 finish points. That put them 82 points clear of second place.
Kiwoom DRX, the defending champions, took second on 151, just two points ahead of Dplus KIA (149). Gladiators Esports were India’s best side, finishing fourth on 144. Outrage Esports (125) and K9 Esports (116) took fifth and sixth. The event ran from October 30 to November 1 with a Rs 1 crore prize pool.
How the tournament unfolded
Day 1: Opening night
- Alan Walker performed at the opening ceremony. His anthem “Hero” became part of BGMI through the 2024 “Be A Hero” campaign.
- Shri Ashish Shelar, President of the Esports Games Federation (ESGF) India, gave the keynote. He called esports “a serious arena of skill, discipline and career opportunity.”
- Korea’s Consul General in Mumbai, Mr. Yoo Dongwan, also attended.
- Nongshim RedForce led on 72 points, one ahead of Dplus KIA (71). Dplus KIA won the day’s only two WWCDs from the Korean sides. Kiwoom DRX were third on 56.
- India won two of the six matches. Outrage Esports were fourth on 47, and K9 Esports took a Chicken Dinner.
Day 2: The one-point deadlock
- Nongshim (100) still led Dplus KIA (99) by one point, the same gap as Day 1. Kiwoom DRX were third on 95, so only five points separated the top three.
- Gladiators Esports had the day’s biggest haul, 53 points with a Chicken Dinner, and jumped from 12th to sixth.
- K9 Esports won their second WWCD and rose to seventh. Outrage held fourth on 83.
- Valor won Japan’s first Chicken Dinner of the tournament.
Day 3: The decider
- Nongshim scored 133 points in six matches, with three Chicken Dinners and 91 finish points.
- Kiwoom DRX scored 56 points to pass Dplus KIA, who had held second for two days.
- Gladiators Esports scored 66 points with two Chicken Dinners to climb from sixth to fourth. They were also BMSD runners-up after fighting back from 22nd in the semi-finals.
Individual awards
MVP: XZY1 (Nongshim RedForce)
The Grenadier: XZY1 (Nongshim RedForce)
Best IGL: SOEZ (Nongshim RedForce)
Best Clutch: Taurus (K9 Esports). He was also The Eliminator at BMSD two weeks earlier.
Global Championship 2026 slots
- Gauntlet stage: Nongshim RedForce and iQOO SouL. SouL qualified as BMSD 2026 champions even though they finished 12th at BMIC.
- Group Stage: Kiwoom DRX, Dplus KIA and Valor (Japan).
Final Standing
| Rank | Team | Country | WWCDs | Position Pts | Finish Pts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nongshim RedForce | South Korea | 5 | 85 | 148 | 233 |
| 2 | Kiwoom DRX | South Korea | 2 | 52 | 99 | 151 |
| 3 | Dplus KIA | South Korea | 3 | 61 | 88 | 149 |
| 4 | Gladiators Esports | India | 3 | 46 | 98 | 144 |
| 5 | Outrage Esports | India | 2 | 42 | 83 | 125 |
| 6 | K9 Esports | India | 2 | 36 | 80 | 116 |
| 7 | Daejeon Game PT | South Korea | 0 | 25 | 87 | 112 |
| 8 | KINOTROPE gaming | Japan | 0 | 33 | 62 | 95 |
| 9 | iQOO 8Bit | India | 0 | 27 | 66 | 93 |
| 10 | Blitz Epigrotive Gaming | India | 0 | 30 | 59 | 89 |
| 11 | REIGNITE | Japan | 0 | 38 | 50 | 88 |
| 12 | iQOO SouL | India | 0 | 18 | 69 | 87 |
| 13 | FOCUS | South Korea | 0 | 26 | 55 | 81 |
| 14 | MAKING THE ROAD | Japan | 0 | 26 | 49 | 75 |
| 15 | Valor | Japan | 1 | 21 | 43 | 64 |
| 16 | Versus | Japan | 0 | 10 | 13 | 23 |
Korea still sets the pace. Korean teams took the top three places and four of the top seven. The gap between them and India is clear, but India’s teams closed it well. Three Indian sides finished in the top six, ahead of every Japanese team. India’s best teams do not stay down. Gladiators climbed from 12th to fourth, and Outrage and K9 stayed in the top six all event. Karan Pathak, Associate Director, Esports at KRAFTON India, said the gap India’s players are chasing “has never been clearer, or closer.”
Hosting at this scale is a statement. BMIC closed KRAFTON India’s 2026 season of four flagship LAN tournaments in Chennai, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Day 1 brought a global music act, a national esports federation keynote and a foreign consul to one venue, which shows how seriously the ecosystem is being treated. Next up is the Global Championship. iQOO SouL carry India’s hopes, but they start in the Gauntlet stage alongside the tournament winners.
