The developers also shared details about the month-long Spotlight event and its cultural influences.
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Asphalt series has built a steady following in India over the years, with mobile-first arcade racing that runs well even on mid-range devices. The franchise has had a visible presence in the country with local tournaments and events.
With Asphalt Legends introducing a dedicated India track in December 2025, the studio has now rolled out a Holi-themed Spotlight event built around it. The update adds customised menus, festival-inspired visuals, limited-time decals, and a multi-stage Collector’s Mode event. We spoke to the developers via email about how they approached cultural authenticity, what gameplay changes players can expect, and what this means for Asphalt Legends going forward.
The India track was introduced in December 2025 with Holi-inspired colours already integrated into the countryside environment. For this dedicated Holi event, what specifically are you looking to include? Did the team work with cultural consultants or members of the Indian community to ensure authentic representation of the festival’s traditions and symbolism? Beyond visual transformations, what unique gameplay mechanics or event structures have you implemented that capture the spirit of Holi, such as playfulness and the celebration of spring?
The new India track allowed us to bring the Holi Festival event to a higher level compared to what we had done in the past, providing the perfect environment to create a great spotlight event. Players will enter the game and discover the event through a fully customized menu, with Holi taking the spotlight as the main event in Asphalt Legends for an entire month.
For this event, we designed two car decals. One is for the Toyota GR Supra Racing Concept and recalls the colorful effect of the iconic Holi powders. The other is for the Pagani Utopia Coupé 2023 and, in addition to incorporating the colors of this amazing celebration, features a striped pattern inspired by the symbol of power, strength, agility, and grace, India’s national animal, the Bengal tiger.
The event will be played through multiple stages in Collector’s Mode, where players will need to collect items on the track. These collectibles explode in colors when collected and feature a design inspired by the beautiful mandala art.
Authentic representation and cultural respect have always been our priority. We have been in contact with members of the Indian community, and since the start of production on the India track, this relationship has grown even stronger.
The India track launched just two months ago in Holiday Overdrive. What’s your philosophy on how quickly you transform a newly introduced track for a major cultural event? Did you always plan for the India track to host a Holi celebration, or was this a responsive decision based on the timing?
When we started the production of the India track, our main priority was to create an environment that could showcase some of the beautiful landscapes India has to offer, combined with its rich history and brought into a racing universe. During the design process, we were thinking about how we could enrich the experience even further, and we already had in mind some of the major Indian festivals, like Holi, which has a very strong and unique identity and visual appeal. This is why we looked for ways to incorporate some of its visual elements into the track.
Incorporating the most iconic colored powders into the track needed to feel authentic and convey the same sense of excitement and joy that defines this joyful festival. This is why we paid particular attention to the visual effects and their placement, carefully designing moments that could draw the player’s attention for a moment and create a sense of wonder, even during intense racing.
One example is the long straight road leading to the main statue, where color explosions on both sides of the street accompany the player through this section of the track, creating a striking and memorable scene.
When the colors hit the car, we wanted them to stay on its surface, just as they would remain on the clothes during Holi celebrations in Indian streets. We also designed the on-screen effects to stay visible for a short time, allowing players to fully experience the sensation of being immersed in a real cloud of colors.
In past years, we’ve done various events themed around Holi. However, this time we wanted to pay homage to our strong Indian community by doing something bigger, now that we had the perfect setting.
What was the most challenging part of this project for the team? What is the one thing that the team is most proud of, and what is something that you want players to notice?
Since the production of the India track, finding the right balance between intense arcade racing, with cars drifting, jumping, and crashing all over the place, and still being respectful of the surroundings was a key objective for us.
We spent a significant amount of time researching the most suitable environment for our races. Choosing from the vast biodiversity India has to offer was not a simple task. Even more time was spent conducting extensive research on temples and architectural structures to create the most authentic setting possible, carefully placing them in key locations throughout the track to offer beautiful views, maintain environmental coherence, and ensure proper respect for these culturally significant landmarks, all while players race at high speed to beat their opponents.
Lighting was another major challenge. This track features a wide variety of environments, from racing under direct sunlight, to drifting through dense palm forests, to speeding inside natural caves. Balancing the lighting across such diverse settings required careful work to ensure consistent visibility throughout the race. After all, when you’re racing at 300 km/h, you don’t want to hit something you couldn’t see coming, unless it’s your opponent… in that case, it’s part of the competition! The implementation of the Holi festival’s iconic visuals needed to be carefully studied to ensure they were coherent with the environment and felt authentic. This definitely helped create a stronger visual identity in some parts of the track, giving players a better and more exciting experience.
We are especially proud of how the event transforms the track into a true celebration and we hope players will appreciate even more the work we have done to bring such a joyful festival into Asphalt Legends.
India is clearly an important market for Gameloft; You have previously partnered with Nodwin Gaming for events. How does this Holi event fit into your broader strategy for the Indian gaming community?
Asphalt has a large and enthusiastic player base in India, including a number of streamers of all sizes, content creators and incredibly talented pro players. We saw this again when we launched our latest track to great support, but for Asphalt the Indian gaming community has demonstrated numerous times how present and engaged they can be, and how seriously they can take gaming. We’ve been working with a variety of partners in India as you pointed out, to create gaming entertainment content or eSports events – sharing our respective knowledge has allowed us to have events that resonate more with the local scene.
On Holi specifically, both it and Diwali have been part of our in-game events calendar for years, we’ve made it a point to celebrate every year and cook up special offers, as well as join in on celebrations organized by the various platforms Asphalt is available on. This year though we’re cranking it up a notch, after releasing our recent India track we really wanted to make something special for Holi which is why we prepared an entire dedicated Spotlight event, with dedicated UI and custom in-game animations, decals and more. We’ve been receiving a lot of love from the Indian side of our community, and we intend to give back to a (large) group of players who have become one of the pillars of the playerbase.
How are you balancing cultural specificity with global accessibility? What elements do you think will resonate with players unfamiliar with the festival?
We believe that a celebration like Holi, centered around color, joy, and togetherness, carries values that can be universally shared and translate very naturally into a racing experience.
This popular Indian festival has a way of pulling people in, regardless of if they’re familiar with it or not. The vibrant colors, the energy and the sense that anyone is welcome to join in is what makes it truly special. It is that very essence of celebration that we’ve tried to capture and believe creates a sense of shared excitement for players across the board.
On the other hand, for those who not only love the festival but associate it with real memories and traditions that hold a special place in their lives, we knew that authenticity was non-negotiable.
The color explosions on the track, the car decals and the broader visual aesthetic are all inspired by and draw from real cultural references. We wanted the event to spark recognition and pride for the players who hold that connection to it.
Ultimately, our goal for the event was for it to work on both levels at once: culturally grounded enough to feel meaningful and visually and experientially inviting enough for anyone discovering Holi for the first time to feel immediately drawn in. In short, this is a celebration and everyone is invited!