From NYCC to LACC to Worldcon, Anand Gandhi and Zain Memon MAYA's Unprecedented Global Tour Cements Status as Cultural Phenomenon. Seed Takes Root dominated New York Comic Con this weekend, with thousands of fans flooding the MAYA booth and waiting in long lines to meet creator Anand Gandhi. The overwhelming response at NYCC marks the culmination of MAYA's extraordinary pre-launch global tour, which has seen the science-fiction fantasy universe command major stages across two continents.
Anand Gandhi also spoke at a panel, moderated by Emmy-winning CNN anchor Omar Jimenez, drawing a houseful attendance as audiences were introduced to the expansive MAYA universe. Throughout the convention, MAYA trailers played at every single panel happening at NYCC, ensuring the new mythology reached most of the convention’s nearly 200,000 attendees. The visibility translated into unprecedented on-ground success, with the MAYA booth becoming one of the show floor’s major attractions.
Fans Embrace the MAYA Universe
The MAYA booth offered exclusive merchandise that proved irresistible to Comic Con attendees. Hundreds of new fans waited patiently in line to meet Gandhi and get their merchandise signed, while the booth became a gathering point for the growing MAYA community. Most remarkably, some fans even arrived in cosplay as MAYA characters. Rakshasis and Manushyas were spotted moving around in the convention, signaling the kind of deep engagement typically reserved for established franchises.
A Global Phenomenon Takes Shape
NYCC represents the latest and largest event in a series of landmark successes for MAYA. In August, the project made its mark at Worldcon 2025 in Seattle, where Gandhi presented MAYA to the global science-fiction community at the world's most important genre convention. Simultaneously, MAYA served as the opening exhibition of The Independence Project at IFBE Mumbai, featuring breathtaking speculative architecture and concept art that invited audiences into the world of planet Neh for the first time.
Most recently, MAYA commanded attention at LA Comic Con, building momentum that exploded at NYCC. Across all these showcases, the pattern has been consistent: packed audiences, enthusiastic responses, and rapidly growing community engagement. Created by Gandhi (Tumbbad, Ship of Theseus) and award-winning game designer Zain Memon (SHASN, AZADI), MAYA presents a world where sentient trees act as a living internet. Citizens "tether" daily to Maya, entering shared dreamscapes while immortal beings harvest data to see billions of possible futures. Everyone is tracked, everyone is "nudged" - except one person, whose freedom threatens everything.
MAYA’s on-ground success mirrors its record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, which became the highest-funded debut novel in crowdfunding history. Narrated by Hollywood icon Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord of the Rings), MAYA: Seed Takes Root will begin shipping to backers in early 2026.
