Tag: Asia

College Rivals find, Sahil Nagpal gets dream pro debut with Rivals Ape X team

India’s largest Collegiate Esports and Gaming IP, College Rivals, owned by Ampverse DMI, has forged a strategic alliance with Orangutan, a leading esports organization in India. College Rivals, remains committed to offering professional gaming prospects to college students and has awarded its inaugural professional gaming contract to Sahil Nagpal, a student from Jalandhar, Punjab.

He demonstrated his prowess during the Season 1 representing the potential and caliber that this College IP aims to tap, cultivate and unearth as part its commitment to foster grassroot esports talents and provide them with a life changing platform and experience.

Joining Orangutan’s Academy BGMI team, Sahil Nagpal’s achievement not only fulfills his dream of becoming a professional player but also serves as inspiration for millions of others. While College Rivals will continue to empower college gamers, paving their path towards professional success in Season 2, the chosen players will also get a shot at playing for Orangutan as part of this strategic multi year partnership.

Ashwin Haryani, Country Head of Ampverse DMI, India revealed the importance of the partnership, “Ampverse DMI and Orangutan are embarking on a holistic partnership. They understood the concept of us building a talent hunt and making sure the top winners are given a platform to perform at a national and international stage. Beyond competition, our alliance also aims to enrich the esports ecosystem with an exclusive BGMI Team, a merchandise line and brand presence on the jersey of the team, every time they step out to play.”

As part of this partnership, Ampverse DMI and Orangutan will jointly co-own Rivals Ape X, a youth team beginning with a BGMI lineup that will include at least one player from every College Rivals season moving forward. Rivals Ape X, featuring some of the nation’s exciting up and coming players will aim to dazzle nationally and internationally in BGMI tournaments.

As part of the selection process, Orangutan had tried out all the 8 BGMI College Rivals Finalists, from Season 1 through a trial and Sahil was chosen on the basis of his in-game skills, game sense and overall team work.

Jai Shah, Co-Founder of Orangutan, expressed his enthusiasm about the initiative, “I am incredibly excited to introduce Rivals Ape X, our Academy Esports Team, in collaboration with Ampverse DMI and College Rivals. This collaboration marks a significant step in our mission to nurture and develop young, hungry talent, providing them with a bigger platform to showcase their skills. Together with Ampverse DMI, we aim to create a pathway for the next generation of esports champions and build a community where passion, skill, and ambition can thrive. Together, we’re setting the stage for the future of competitive gaming.”

College Rivals Season 2 will see 50+ colleges participating across 22 cities in both offline and online competition format. Any college student from Pan India can register and compete as the preliminary competitions have already been rolled out from July 15 along with diverse entertainment experiences tailored for college students including opportunities to become college ambassadors, purchase exclusive College Rivals merchandise and other interesting initiatives in a groundbreaking gaming format never seen before in India.

The competitions will take place for three gaming titles—BGMI, Valorant, and EA FC 24—with the grand finale being played in February, 2025. The winners from monthly qualifiers will compete in a grand finale for the ultimate battle and a prize pool of up to ₹50,00,000 along with the contract.

Skyesports, a premier global IP and community builder for gaming and esports, has unveiled the venue for the anticipated Skyesports Championship 2024, a $300,000 Counter-Strike 2 esports tournament. The event, featuring 12 teams, is set to happen at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai, India from July 23 to 28.

Commenting on the tournament, Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO of Skyesports, said, “We are thrilled to welcome international teams to India for the $300,000 Skyesports Championship. This event, at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai, is among the most significant ones of our 2024 Counter-Strike esports roadmap. As we position Skyesports’ IPs for new audiences, this tournament is a crucial milestone for our long-term plans in the game. Our vision of bringing international teams to India to participate in our IPs is coming true, and we are setting a platform to establish India as a global hub for esports. This is a pivotal moment in putting India on the global esports map.”

The Skyesports Championship will happen across two stages: the Group Stage and the Playoffs. The Group Stage will take place from July 23 to 25 with the 12 teams split into two groups of six teams each. Each group will compete in a single round-robin format with the top three teams advancing to the Playoffs. The group stage will adopt a “semi-LAN” format where the teams will be competing from remotely set-up bootcamps at the Taj Lands End.

The Skyesports Championship 2024 Playoffs will move to the main stage at the Taj Lands End, where the six teams will battle it out in a single-elimination bracket for the title of champions on July 27 and 28. Additionally, there will be a lot of surprises set for fans in the Skyesports Championship 2024.

The complete list of teams is as follows:

● Aurora Gaming
● AMKAL Esports
● BetBoom Team
● Bleed Esports
● DMS
● ENCE
● Eternal Fire
● Parivision
● Revenant Esports
● The MongolZ
● 3DMAX
● True Rippers Esports

Aurora Esports, the Serbian champions of the previous international Skyesports events—the $350,000 Skyesports Masters 2024 and the Skyesports Grand Slam 2024 in Pune, India—are once again traveling to the country, aiming for the throne. Joining them are Turkey’s Eternal Fire, Mongolia’s The Mongolz, and formidable European teams such as ENCE, Bleed Esports, and Revenant Esports.

Additionally, open qualifiers for Europe and India were held, granting two direct slots for the Skyesports Championship 2024 Main Event. True Rippers will be representing India, while 3DMAX have secured the European qualification for the event.

Fans can catch all the action live on the Skyesports YouTube and Twitch channels. The tournament will be broadcasted in several languages, including English, Hindi, Russian, Portugal, and Mongolian – a testament to the global nature of the Skyesports Championship IP.

The Skyesports Championship is India’s longest-running homegrown esports IP. The tournament was introduced in 2018 as a regional competition for South India. Since then, it has grown manifolds year-over-year to become one of the most prominent esports events in the 2024 calendar.

In a bid to provide authentic data and unparalleled insights into the nation’s esports industry, AFK Gaming has announced the beta launch of ‘AFK Gaming Insights’, India’s first-ever premium analytics dashboard.

This first-of-its-kind powerful tool offers real-time data and analytics to help users, brands and other stakeholders make informed decisions and stay ahead in the esports landscape of the country.

AFK Gaming Insights features three core analytics modules:
Tournaments Analytics: Access detailed information on prize pools, sponsors, players, teams, and more. This module provides a comprehensive view of the financial and competitive aspects of esports tournaments, enabling users to strategize effectively.

User Analytics: Discover valuable insights into demographics, occupations, interests, income ranges, spending habits, and more. This data helps users understand the diverse backgrounds and behaviours of the Indian gaming community, facilitating targeted marketing and engagement efforts.
Social Analytics: Track key metrics such as Instagram followers, YouTube subscribers, and the country’s top live streamers.

Expressing his enthusiasm on the beta launch of AFK Gaming Insights, Nishant Patel, Co-founder and CEO of AFK Gaming stated, “AFK Gaming Insights is a product built to address a critical market need. In the absence of reliable data to aid their decision making, key stakeholders in the Indian gaming, esports and youth culture industries have been struggling to make informed decisions. With this launch, we hope to empower tournament organizers, brand managers, team owners and industry observers with a single source of truth that they can turn to for industry knowledge and information that will drive the sector’s growth as a whole.”

According to a report by Niko Partners, India is the fastest-growing gaming market, with over 450 million gamers and more than USD 830 million revenue generated in 2023. This expansive market requires a platform that enables stakeholders and brands to access insights on the go and use these metrics for their engagement and campaigns.

To address this, AFK Gaming Insights, which will be available exclusively to annual subscribers, has been devised to cater to a diverse spectrum of users. For newcomers, the dashboard serves as an entry point, providing information that helps them understand trends, player performances and tournament dynamics.

Gamers can optimise their strategies and refine their performances while hardcore audiences will benefit from the deeper insights on their favourite gamers and teams’ social media engagements, viewerships and tournament statistics. For example, the tool reveals that Total Gaming is currently the most viewed Indian gaming YouTuber, with an average of 4.25 million views per video over the last month.

On the other hand, industry stakeholders can leverage detailed analytics into market trends, audience behaviours and sponsorship opportunities to make strategic decisions. For instance, the dashboard uncovers significant trends, such as the fact that more Indian gamers spend money on a daily basis rather than not spending at all.

This pioneering platform promises to redefine the analysis of competitive gaming and change the way esports is perceived in the country.

Putting up stellar performances, Revenant Esports emerged victorious in the LAN playoffs of the OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia Split 2, securing their spot at the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Ascension: Pacific.

Organized by NODWIN Gaming, the leading South Asian gaming and esports company, in collaboration with Riot Games, the tournament’s playoffs witnessed fierce competition amongst Revenant Esports, Velocity Gaming, True Rippers, and Orangutan at the NODWIN Gaming Arena in Chattarpur.

Revenant Esports, featuring India’s top VALORANT players including in-game leader (IGL) Jayanth Ramesh (skillZ), Ganesh Gangadhar (SkRossi), Kasif Sayyed (Paradox), Prish Valvani (Tricky) alongside Kazakhstan’s Dastan Zhumagali (dos9) and Sultan Akbay (sultan), remained unbeaten throughout Split 2. After winning three straight games in the league stage, the team sustained their momentum in the LAN playoffs.

They defeated Orangutan 2-0 in the upper bracket semi-finals, followed by a 2-1 win over True Rippers in the upper bracket final. In the grand finale, Revenant Esports secured another decisive victory over True Rippers with a commanding 3-0 win. The LAN playoffs were contested in a double elimination bracket, with all matches played in a best-of-three format, except the lower bracket final and grand final, which were best-of-five.

Expressing his enthusiasm for the victory, Ganesh Gangadhar aka SkRossi of Revenant Esports stated, “Winning the OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia Split 2 is an incredible milestone for us at Revenant Esports. We faced numerous hurdles in Split 1, but those results only made us stronger and more determined to prove ourselves on the main stage again. Personally, returning to the South Asia circuit after competing internationally was a rollercoaster journey, but I have always believed in the potential of our region. This win reinforces that belief and motivates us to aim even higher. A huge shoutout to all our fans for their constant support. We promise to keep pushing our limits and make you proud at VCT Ascension.”

OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia 2024 boasted an overall prize pool of $130,000 (approx. INR 1 crore) across Split 1 and Split 2. The total prize pool of Split 1 was $66,000 (approx INR 55.11 lakhs) distributed evenly across Cup 1 and Cup 2.

In Split 2, Revenant Esports took home $ 20,000 (approx. INR 16.68 lakhs) from the overall $ 64,000 (approx. INR 55 lakhs) prize pool while fellow finalists True Rippers secured $12,500 (INR 10 lakhs). Velocity Gaming were awarded with $10,000 (approx. INR 8.34 lakhs), and Orangutan received $7,000 (approx. INR 5.84 lakhs). OMEN by HP was the tournament’s title partner and Philips was the styling partner.

“Congratulations to Revenant Esports for demonstrating their prowess against the top teams in the region. Through OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia, NODWIN Gaming and Riot Games have dedicated themselves to establishing a sustainable ecosystem for the title, providing a platform for the nation’s best talent to shine. The invaluable support from our partners and the overwhelming response from fans, has made this event truly unforgettable. We are proud to have played a role in elevating the VALORANT esports scene in the region and look forward to Revenant Esports representing South Asia on the global stage,” said Gautam Virk, Co-Founder and CEO of NODWIN Gaming.

The dual split format of the OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia 2024, initiated earlier this year by NODWIN Gaming and Riot Games, has been instrumental in showcasing the skills of South Asian teams and players. The tournament saw an impressive online viewership of 8 million across Split 1 and 2, recording a total footfall of 30,000.

“The OMEN VALORANT Challengers South Asia 2024 has been an incredible journey. The intense competition and high level of gameplay we have witnessed has been truly inspiring for the viewers as well as the next generation of esports athletes. We are excited to see Revenant Esports take on the best teams from across APAC at the VCT Ascension Pacific and wish them the very best. We look forward to continuing our support for the region’s growing esports ecosystem,” commented Sukamal Pegu, Esports Lead, India & South Asia, Riot Games.

As the sole Indian representative, Revenant Esports will compete against nine other leading teams from the continent at the VCT Ascension: Pacific which is set to take place in Tokyo, Japan, this September. The winner will secure a coveted spot in the Pacific League 2025.

NODWIN® Gaming, South Asia’s leading gaming and esports company has announced the highly anticipated third edition of India’s premier esports event – BGMI Masters Series (BGMS). The tournament will be televised live on India’s leading sports broadcaster Star Sports for the third consecutive year.

BGMS Season 3 will witness India’s top 24 teams competing in one of the nation’s biggest Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) tournaments scheduled from July 19 to August 11.

Sharing his enthusiasm, Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director of NODWIN® Gaming expressed, “Being the biggest esports IP in India, BGMS has been a cornerstone of esports action in the country since its inception two years ago. This edition marks a significant milestone for us as BGMS returns to a major sports TV network like Star Sports, for the third time, offering unparalleled visibility to esports talent & associated brands on mainstream television. Our team has always strived to deliver top-tier esports experiences and will leave no stone unturned in leveraging our years of expertise in the production and broadcast space to bring the best of the best esports action on television once again. Together, with the incredible team at Star Sports, we are committed to cementing esports’ status as a mainstream sport amongst the masses, and eagerly anticipate an exciting season ahead.”

The tournament has continued its association with TVS Raider, the sporty commuter motorcycle from TVS Motor Company as the Official Mobility Partner, and Philips OneBlade, the male grooming product of Philips India as the competition’s Official Styling Partner.

“We are thrilled to announce the third season in partnership with a plethora of remarkable brands, who share our collective vision to nurture esports talent across the country. The involvement and support of leading brands highlights the growing youth base of this new-age sport, and how BGMS is positioned to reach out and capture the largest market share of this growing audience.” he further added.

The previous season of BGMS garnered a remarkable viewership on the Star Sports Network, underscoring its growing popularity and appeal amongst audiences throughout the nation. As the tournament returns for a third consecutive year on Star Sports, it reaffirms its position as a linchpin of India’s esports calendar.

“Star Sports has always been committed to bringing the best of sports entertainment to its viewers. The rapid rise of esports in the country has made it an exciting addition to our portfolio, tapping into a wide demographic of tech-savvy younger generation. Having accumulated monumental viewership for the past two seasons, BGMS has not only helped us showcase the best of esports action but also to bridge the gap between traditional sports and esports in India. With the invaluable support of NODWIN® Gaming, we look forward to another high-octane season this year, offering unparalleled BGMI action to our viewers,” said Vikram Passi, Head – Marketing, Star Sports Network.

NODWIN® Gaming, alongside each of the partner brands, will play a pivotal role in making BGMS Season 3, a premium esports experience for fans across the nation, setting new benchmarks in Indian esports.