A Bengaluru startup wants to build the handheld gaming console India has never gotten from anyone else. ARC has opened its waitlist, and the pitch is simple: stop treating Indian gamers as a market to sell into, and start designing for them directly.
Why this gap exists in the first place
India is one of the largest gaming markets in the world by sheer user count, but almost all of that scale runs through smartphones. Dedicated handheld gaming hardware, the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, and similar devices, has remained a niche segment here, and the reasons are structural rather than a lack of interest. These devices typically reach Indian buyers only through imports or limited grey-market channels, arriving with steep markups, no local warranty support, and hardware designed around Western or East Asian pricing expectations and use cases. Premium international handhelds currently run anywhere from roughly ₹45,000 to well over ₹90,000 in India once import costs are factored in, pricing that puts genuine console-grade portable gaming firmly out of reach for most of the country's mobile-first gaming audience.
What ARC is actually proposing
ARC, founded by Jobin Joseph and Kaustubh K. Jadhav, has opened waitlist registrations at playarc.gg for its debut handheld device. The company describes its ambitions in four parts: purpose-built hardware optimized for ergonomic and performance standards, a proprietary operating system designed to streamline game management and device performance, integrated software services and tools, and a community-led platform meant to keep early adopters directly involved in shaping the product. Registering for the waitlist gives users early access to product updates, launch announcements, community initiatives, and priority purchasing opportunities ahead of general release.
Final specifications, pricing, and a launch date have not been disclosed. For now, the waitlist functions as both a demand signal for ARC and a way to build a community of early supporters before the company commits to a specific product roadmap.
Indian gamers have been treated as a market to extract from, not a market to design for. We believe it's time to change that.
The founders' own story shapes the pitch
Joseph and Jadhav have been explicit that ARC's direction comes from their own experience growing up as gamers in India, a generation for whom access to premium gaming often meant borrowing consoles from friends, spending hours at cyber cafés, or waiting for rare chances to play anything beyond what a budget device could handle. That lived experience is the foundation for ARC's stated belief that Indian gamers deserve hardware built around their aspirations and economic realities, rather than a global device simply adapted or imported for the Indian market after the fact.
Why building hardware in India is genuinely hard
None of this is a small undertaking. Building consumer hardware from scratch is one of the most difficult categories in technology, demanding deep expertise across engineering, manufacturing, component sourcing, and international supply chains, areas where India's electronics manufacturing ecosystem is still maturing relative to established hubs in East Asia. ARC's founders have acknowledged this complexity directly, framing the challenge as significant but one they believe is worth taking on given the scale of India's gaming audience and the total absence of a genuinely localized alternative.
The India angle
This entire story is an India story by design, but the deeper significance is what it represents for India's broader electronics manufacturing ambitions. A homegrown gaming hardware company attempting to build and sell a premium device domestically, rather than simply assembling someone else's design under license, would be a meaningful data point for India's push to move up the value chain from assembly toward genuine product design and engineering. Whether ARC can actually deliver competitive hardware at a price point meaningfully below the ₹45,000 to ₹90,000 import range, while sourcing components at viable cost and volume, will determine if this becomes a real alternative for India's gaming community or another ambitious hardware startup that struggles against the brutal economics of consumer electronics manufacturing.
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Founders | Jobin Joseph and Kaustubh K. Jadhav |
| Base | Bengaluru, India |
| Waitlist | Open now at playarc.gg |
| Specs, pricing, launch date | Not yet disclosed |
What to watch
Watch for ARC's next updates on specifications and pricing, since those details will determine whether the company can genuinely undercut import pricing on premium handhelds or ends up competing in the same bracket as the international devices it's positioning itself against. The size of the waitlist response over the coming weeks will also be a useful early signal of whether India's gaming community sees this as a credible alternative or simply an interesting idea to watch from a distance.
Published July 6, 2026. Gadgets365 will update this article as more information becomes available.
