Mahesh Babu Backs Shortgun Games, India's PC and Console Bet

Telugu cinema superstar Mahesh Babu has become a strategic investor in Mumbai-based Shortgun Games, a studio building original titles for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S rather than mobile. The size of the investment was not disclosed.

The bet is unusual. India's digital entertainment sector has long concentrated on mobile gaming. Shortgun, founded by Jeet Chandan and Vidhit Mehta, skipped mobile entirely from the start. Its first title, "Project Takedown," is a big-budget, story-driven action-adventure game designed to compete with international releases in North America, Europe, the U.K. and beyond.

"Interactive entertainment is the ultimate frontier where narrative depth, cutting-edge technology, and global culture intersect," Mahesh Babu, who leads S.S. Rajamouli's upcoming "Varanasi," said. "India has extraordinary creative potential, and the time is right to build original characters and cinematic worlds from here that resonate across the globe. What drew me to this company is Jeet Chandan and Vidhit Mehta's clarity of ambition and their drive to create high-end PC and console experiences that stand shoulder-to-shoulder with international studio benchmarks."

Who is building the game?

Chandan and Mehta serve as directors of the studio. Their argument is that an Indian team can deliver the detailed worlds, layered gameplay and cinematic scale core players expect from top-tier releases.

"We founded Shortgun Games with a singular focus – to prove that India can engineer world-class interactive entertainment for PC and modern consoles," Mehta said. "Having Mahesh Babu sir come on board alongside Jeet and me as a strategic investor is an extraordinary milestone. His intuitive understanding of large-scale storytelling, emotional connection, and mass resonance elevates our entire vision as we bring 'Project Takedown' to life."

Chandan said the studio's goal had always been to create lasting franchises that work across media and travel beyond regional borders.

"Mahesh Babu sir's trust in our roadmap provides a massive vote of confidence for our entire team," he said. "His strategic involvement empowers us to scale our technical capabilities, expand our creative talent, and execute at uncompromising quality standards."

How does the combat work?

Shortgun brought in action director Vicky Arora to handle the game's fight sequences. Arora's credits include "Uri: The Surgical Strike," "RRR" and "Tanaav." His team has worked on motion-capture choreography, combat previsualization and physical stunt work.

Those live stunt performances feed directly into the pipeline the developers use to build the game's digital characters. The studio says the result is hard-hitting combat of a kind rarely attempted outside the top tier of global publishers.

What does this change for Indian gaming?

Beyond "Project Takedown," Shortgun's slate includes "Roll 'em Out," a cooperative indie game.

The involvement of a bankable film star signals that capital and creative talent from Indian cinema are beginning to flow into premium game development, a segment the country's industry has largely left to Western and Japanese publishers. Whether "Project Takedown" can meet the benchmarks its founders name will test that thesis.