If you spend enough time at festivals, you start to notice patterns. People drift between stages, hover at the edges of crowds, look for places to sit down, reset, stay a little longer than planned. Versus tends to appear in those in-between moments. Not as a headline attraction, but as something you stumble into and end up staying with.
Versus is not easy to summarise, and it does not try to be. It is not strictly a gaming brand, and it is not interested in dressing itself up as a music festival add on. At its simplest, it is an arcade centred experience built around fighting games, using them as a way to bring different kinds of people into the same room and see how they interact.
Fighting games sit at the centre of this. They are often called the chess of esports, but what that really means becomes clear only when you watch people play. Matches are quiet and tense. Small decisions matter. You can see people thinking in real time. Even if you do not play, it is easy to understand what is happening. Versus gives these games space to breathe, allowing people to watch, learn and talk around them. Winning matters, but it is not the only reason people stay.
On the competitive side, Versus has earned trust quickly. International players like Tokido, Mike Ross and Takera have appeared at its events, alongside some of the most respected names in the Indian fighting game community. These moments feel less like celebrity bookings and more like a reflection of how seriously the scene is being taken.
The way Versus moves through culture is shaped by the people behind it. The company is co founded by Adhithya Mahesh and Pravin Ratnam, with Sashank Manohar acting as festival director from the beginning. Mahesh and Manohar both come from the indie music world. Mahesh has worked closely with bands in Chennai, while Manohar is best known as the bassist of The F16s. That background shows in subtle ways. There is a sense of pacing and a willingness to let moments unfold. An understanding that audiences do not always need to be told what to do.
Since its early editions, Versus has found a place within a wide range of cultural events. It has appeared at large festivals like Japan Habba, Anime India and 24FPS, and also at smaller, more relaxed gatherings such as the Circle of Love Big Picnic in Chennai. Across all of these, the setup adapts without losing its core. Arcade machines are not fenced off or elevated. They sit where people are already moving, inviting curiosity rather than demanding attention.
Design plays an important role in this. There is no fixed blueprint for a Versus setup. Visuals, layouts and programming shift depending on the audience and the setting. The focus is less on spectacle and more on placement, on making sure the space feels like it belongs where it is. Community sits at the centre of everything. While competition matters, it is never the only point. Families, first-time players, regulars and cosplayers often share the same floor. Open play sessions, art-based activities, quizzes and informal challenges give people multiple ways to engage. The atmosphere feels closer to a shared hangout than a tournament hall.
All of this comes together most visibly through The Versus Festival, the brand’s flagship event. The festival blends arcade culture with anime, cosplay and creator-driven programming, and has hosted some of the most significant fighting game tournaments in the country. Alongside the festival, Versus has also developed The Versus Experience, a more flexible format designed to slot into existing events. This version has appeared at Anime India Mumbai, 24FPS Creators Fest, and publisher-led activations, often becoming one of the most active areas on the floor. Japanese arcade machines, live DJ sets, and on-stage matches with commentary form the backbone of these spaces.
Somewhere along the way, Versus was identified as one of the fastest-growing startups in the country that does not do deliveries, with the Vice- President of the startup association, reportedly remarking that while they were not entirely sure how to categorise what the company was doing, it was refreshing to see growth that was not tied to apps or logistics. The comment stuck because it captured something true. Versus does not fit neatly into existing definitions, but it has clearly connected with people.
This connection reaches a new point at Kappa CULTR in Kochi from 20 to 22 February 2026. For the first time, Versus is bringing arcade culture and electronic music together in a dedicated format within a large-scale music festival. Instead of standing apart from the rest of the event, the Versus space is designed to move with it, allowing music and gameplay to overlap without competing.
The setup will include arcade machines flown in from Japan, alongside DJ programming by Focus Group Radio Chennai, MADM Sanjana, and Aditya Rao from The Mangas. On-stage matches with live commentary will run through the weekend. Some people will come looking for the games, others will stumble into them between sets, and both are equally welcome. What makes the Kappa CULTR edition significant is that it feels like a natural step forward rather than a one-off experiment. It reflects an idea Versus has been quietly building towards, that arcade culture and electronic music can exist in the same space without one becoming decoration for the other.
As experiential formats continue to multiply, Versus remains focused on something simpler. How people move through a space. Where they stop. What makes them stay. By paying attention to these details, the brand continues to create environments that feel lived in, where participation happens on its own terms.
