Tag: Asia

MPL, one of the world’s largest mobile and skill gaming platforms, jointly with Missing Link Trust, has launched a campaign called #SaveOurMissingGirls to spread awareness on human trafficking. Announced on the eve of United Nations’ World Day against Trafficking in persons, the campaign aims to spread awareness on the dark world of human trafficking through a Role Play Game.

As a part of this week-long campaign starting on 30th July, MPL has invited people to take a pledge by giving a missed call to the number  9099306000 and show their support towards ending this menace that impacts millions of lives every year.

Human trafficking is the second largest organised crime in the world and the numbers are alarmingly increasing across the world and in India. Nearly 1827 women are trafficked every hour on an average in India resulting in almost 16 million women victims of sex trafficking every year, according to a Dasra report. 40% of these victims are adolescents and children.

The UN’s theme this year for World Day Against Human Trafficking is ‘use and abuse of technology’ in human trafficking, and MPL has chosen gamification as the technology-led path to sensitize the general public and potential victims about human traffcking and ways to prevent it.

Missing, developed by Missing Link Trust, an NGO which combines art and technology to create mass awareness around sex trafficking, was onboarded on MPL recently. The interactive game, wherein the gamer assumes the role of trafficked girl in India, is designed to allow players to experience what a missing person goes through when she is trafficked into the inhumane and cruel world of prostitution, a world into which millions of girls are lost every year. Gamers have to make smart choices at each step of the game to be able to get out of the trap set by traffickers.

Commenting on the campaign, Namratha Swamy, Country Head for India at MPL, said: “Technology has a big role to play in prevention of human trafficking and we believe online gaming can be an interesting way to sensitize people and raise awareness about eradicating human trafficking. One of the key objectives of the #SaveOurMissingGirls campaign is using games to make more people alert. We have received an overwhelming response from MPL’s  users on Missing ever since its launch on our platform.”

“The Missing game comes under the genre of ‘Games for Change’ by tackling the first ‘P for Prevention’ of the United Nation’s four Ps against trafficking. We think this campaign along with our collaboration with the MPL platform, with a strong 90 million, will be a game-changer in ensuring a wide reach for the game and making millions of people aware of the menace,” said Leena Kejriwal, Founder, Missing Link Trust.

Several celebrities and influencers such as Durjoy Datta, Ravinder Singh and Trendulkar have extended their support to the campaign by joining the conversation on social media. NGOs like CyberPeace Foundation, Impulse and Digital Empowerment Foundation among others, also supported the initiative to show their solidarity towards the cause.

8bit Creatives, India’s leading esports consulting and talent management agency, launched a one-stop customised solution provider, A Bit Extra. It aims to bring in a gamut of creators across genre, working with various media and experiential formats.

Combining business with creativity and helping them to grow with best collaboration models, A Bit Extra will bring in innovative result driven strategies for influencer marketing, campaign designing, brand consulting, digital marketing, all under one umbrella. It will also constantly upgrade in order to meet industry requirements in a changing consumer world.

8bit Creatives has already proved its dominance in the esports segment and has successfully serviced more than 100 top brands including Netflix, LG, Lenovo, amazon prime video, Flipkart and OnePlus.

“While talent management will be a part of it, our focus will be more on ideating innovative ways to present the content creators and their sponsors. We understand the know-hows of this industry and would like to adapt new narratives. We have identified the challenges that brands face in their campaigns and we will bring the best creative approaches on table. A Bit Extra, will add the ‘extra’ elements to support them with designing specialised campaigns and better manage their digital media in a strategic manner,” said Animesh Agarwal, Founder, 8bit Creatives.

According to Statista, Indians spend an average of two hours and 36 minutes a day on social media platforms. The ₹900-crore industry is pegged to grow at a CAGR of 25% and become a ₹2,200 crore industry by 2025, as per e4m INCA’s Influencer Marketing Report 2021. The growth is bound to help the sponsors, creators, and even the consumers.

A Bit Extra promises to offer cutting edge solutions as per the need of the hour. This venture is aimed at facilitating meaningful investments that enable brands to achieve their business, social and environmental goals by collaborating with all kinds of creators who drive their followers, engagement, views, reach, impressions and meaningful ROIs.

The new venture will be among the select specialised 360-degree service providers in the country. It currently partners with influencers from different genres such as Muskaan Mehra, Nisha Joshi, Rhea Malvi, Pratik Chowdhary and many more.

The rapid shift from the traditional formats for entertainment has resulted in the growing popularity of influencers in India, giving rise to spawning new business opportunities for talent management firms. The industry is booming and the pressure is increasing on these service providers to offer more result-oriented unique approach and pushing them to create their own benchmark.

In its bid to give promising gamers a chance to showcase their skills on a national platform, the second edition of the Esports Premier League organized the Underdog Phase, where Team GOG Esports and Dragon Esports put up a stellar display of talent to conquer the open qualifiers. Both teams finished in the top two positions with their dominant performances in the open qualifiers.

ESports Premier League envisioned this “Underdog Phase” to ensure that non-established BGMI Esports players and teams from across the country get an opportunity to show their talent and ability. This will be for the first time such an initiative was taken to give opportunity for the Underdogs only via open qualifiers.

Led by Manish Jangid, team GOG Esports topped the chart with a total tally of 142 points (Finish Points – 52 + Position Points – 90) while Team Dragon Esports led by Ritik Rawat finished second with 130 points (Finish Points – 70 + Position Points – 60). Both teams registered one WWCD (Winner Winner Chicken Dinner) each to their name too.

GOG Esports played their first major tournament during BMPS (Battleground Mobile Pro Series) and finished that mega event with the 21st rank. Buoyed by other talented members in Nick, Bullet, and Trex, the team is currently prepping for the mega final in a Boot Camp in Bhopal. The whole team is practicing for about 13 to 14 hours daily to give a tough competition to the best teams during the grand finals of the ESPL Season 2.

The team is excited to play in their first ever major LAN event as Manish Jangid, the team leader for GOG Esports added, “This moment gives me a sense of accomplishment and honor that our team’s diligence and commitment finally paid off. We are grinding really hard together at our bootcamp and are really excited as this will be our first LAN event. The open qualifier was an eye-opener as multiple underdog teams were playing like pros and I am sure all other teams learned a lot and will continue their grid in the upcoming events.”

Team Dragon Esports leader Ritik, son of a retired army officer opted out of education after 12th to pursue a career in gaming. His journey began in 2018 with PUBG. With Sanket Salam, Krishna Sharma, and Ashish Singh, Rawat formed the team Dragon Esports which is his third esports team. The 22-year-old also participated in the PMCO Open qualifiers 2019. He also joined NADE gaming in 2020 and now the Dehradun-based gamer is focused on the upcoming LAN event in Delhi.

Speaking on the success and response of the Open Qualifiers, ESPL director Vishwalok Nath noted, “We have seen multiple tournaments only catering to top teams on an invitational basis, and opportunities for underdog teams are very less in regards to bigger platforms. So, to give equal opportunity to all the teams, we conducted open qualifiers for underdog teams across the country to give them a bigger platform to perform. The Underdog phase was one of its kind, as it provided budding gamers with a promise to get a chance to showcase their skills on a national platform. Both the teams that won thoroughly deserve their success. Now, these teams will get a chance to put their skills and strategies to test against the top names in BGMI Esports. Who knows, we may get our new BGMI heroes out of these two underdog teams.”

This year’s league which carries a massive prize pool of Rs. 1 crore is set to engage esports athletes across the country in a high-voltage action of the most popular battle royale game, BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA.

The league is being played in two separate stages in the initial phase — online qualifiers and invitational qualifiers — to shortlist the top 16 teams. ESPL has already got their 2 top Underdog teams from online qualifiers. The invitational qualifiers are being played in two phases; the first phase will select top 5 teams whereas in the second phase, 8 top teams will be chosen from the leaderboard. The finals will also witness one direct invited team competing and vying for the title.

Recently, ESports Premier League (ESPL) extended its association with youth icon and renowned Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff as the face of India’s first-ever franchise-based Esports league for the second consecutive year. India Today Gaming has also roped the Global smartphone brand, TECNO Mobile as Presenting Sponsor for the tournament. The smartphone maker is committed to supporting and helping aspiring underdog esports players with its gaming-focused smartphones like the latest, Tecno Pova 3. Esports fans can also watch the BGMI action live on India’s leading streaming platform, LOCO, the exclusive digital broadcast partner for ESPL Season 2. The tournament organizer has also signed Ishq FM as the exclusive radio partner for the ongoing tournament.

NODWIN Gaming’s three-week-long premier television tournament — the BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI) Masters Series that was broadcast on Star Sports 2 on primetime starting June 24, has concluded in a grand final event on July 17, 2022. Global Esports was crowned the champion of this series following an edge-of-the-seat match between the top teams like Team GodLike & Orangutan. The winner was awarded the BGMI Master Series trophy, INR 25 lakh as prize money, and took home the new Hyundai VENUE. The tournament had an overall prize pool of INR 1.5 Cr.

The winner was announced after the three-week-long tournament’s exciting and long-drawn five-day grand finale. The tournament finals saw teams give a tough fight and pull all stops to dominate the leader board with an eye on the trophy. The season also saw lesser-known teams like team Insane Esports and Chemin Esports excel and make an impression.

“What a series this has been for NODWIN Gaming, for the community and for our partners on the whole! We’ve been able to place esports right in the upper echelons along the likes of several big league traditional sports like cricket, football and tennis. This tournament is a game-changer for every aspiring gamer out there. My heartiest congratulations to Global Esports who’ve raised the bar of professional gaming with their skillset and focus. Each team played like true champions till the very end. I’d also like to thank all our partners Star Sports, Spotify, Swiggy, Loco, Glance Live, Wings, Gillette and Hyundai who instilled their faith in our vision and drove this event to mass success. Onwards and upwards from here,” said Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming.

KING, an Indian singer, and songwriter performed his latest releases Baazi and Sinner on the sets of BGMI, courtesy of Glance and Warner Music India to get players grooving to his music and pumped up for their next battle. Television host, Jatin Sapru, presented the last two days of the competition.

“Gaming has become an entire culture in itself which is representative of participation in a cultural phenomenon that has reached a scale that you simply cannot ignore. It is no longer super-niche but very much a part of the mass culture. This is one sport where we have looked to partner with NODWIN to build something from the ground up. Here, we have not just acquired the rights. We invested in both resources and efforts.  When we do this, we do it with the ambition of building something that will reach a certain scale. We are delighted that our hypothesis is being proven right that a popular game when converted into a marquee sporting property will attract millions of viewers,” said Sanjog Gupta, Head of Sports, Star & Disney India.

“As a progressive brand, Hyundai shares strong synergies with various Sports across the globe and it gives us immense pleasure to be an integral part of the e-sports bandwagon. We are delighted to be associated with BGMI Masters Series organized by NODWIN Gaming. The new Hyundai VENUE personifies the aspirations of Gen MZ customers, elevating their experience through everyday dynamism, exciting performance and hi-tech features. Being one of the largest automobile manufacturers in India, a large part of our customers belong to the Millennial and Gen Z age group, who draw strong associations with esports and spend significant time engaging in such activities. Realizing their interests and to fuel the passion for E-Sports, we are bringing a Lit extravaganza to this series by presenting the new Hyundai Venue to the winner,” said Virat Khullar, AVP & Group Head, Marketing, Hyundai Motor India.

“Spotify aims to bring the best in audio to gamers, creating experiences wherever they play and however they choose to listen. Our partnership with NODWIN for BGMI Masters Series 2022, is an exciting opportunity to advance that goal in India. Specifically, for the tournament, we have curated the Top Gaming Tracks India playlist for those who wish to get in the zone before a match, and have featured top BGMI gamers in The Mythpat Podcast (a Spotify Original), talking about match strategies and tactics. This is just the start of our partnership with BGMI, stay tuned for more to come!” said Neha Ahuja -Head of Marketing at Spotify.

“We have seen the power of the esports community come alive on Loco yet again, with the BGMI Masters Series alone garnering nearly 100 million views and the finals achieving a new platform record of 2.5 lakh concurrent live viewers. As the pioneer and largest investor in the Indian esports and live game streaming ecosystem, Loco has empowered all stakeholders involved and has provided a strong financial backing for the community to grow. Esports is set out to become the sport of the masses in India and we are proud to provide opportunities for viewers and creators on our platform as we continue to democratize gaming entertainment and turbocharge fan experiences!”, said Ashwin Suresh, Founder, Loco.

“Over the last year, Glance has made significant endeavors to bring premium eSports to users right on the lock screen of their smartphones.  We are delighted to share that over 25 million consumers in India have discovered and watched BGMI masters on Glance. We hope that the combined reach BGMI Masters has achieved through TV and lock screens makes this a watershed moment for esports in India as she aims to become an esports powerhouse, especially ahead of the launch of esports at the next Asian Games,” said Yashashvi Takallapalli, Vice President – Gaming, Glance.

“Swiggy has been looking at interesting ways to engage with the gaming TG. The opportunity with BGMI Masters Series gave us a chance to do that at scale. We have done some interesting integrations during the series such as owning the “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” segment in addition to having live delivery activations in the studio. We also ran a contest wherein we gave away 100 free Swiggy dinners on a daily basis, through QR code ads that we ran during the course of the series.” said Saurabh Nath, AVP Brand.

Commenting on the finale, Vijay Venkateswaran, Head of Sales and Marketing, Wings said, “The BGMI Masters has drawn to a close and what a journey it has been. Intense seems an understatement. Congratulations to Global Esports. A roller coaster ride if there ever was one. Props to all the teams who have participated and gave their best. It was an entertaining spectacle from the start to finish. Wings is proud to have partnered with NODWIN Gaming to produce such a huge show of talent and skill. We are immensely overjoyed that we are part of a project that celebrates gamers in all its glory. Here’s to more such ventures that push the horizons of gaming.”

The first-ever televised BGMI tournament was a collaboration between NODWIN Gaming and Star Sports. Glance Live and Loco enabled the digital distribution of the tournament. The series was broadcast in Hindi, Tamil and English.

The total prize pool for the tournament was INR 1.5 crore to be distributed among the winning team, the weekly winners and the top performers.

Performance awards for the finals:

1. The Eliminator Award – Most finishes – Goblin from Team Soul
2. The Cruiser Award– Most walked distance – Robinū from team Chemin Esports
3. The Damager Award – Most Damage – Jonathan from GodLike
4. The Dost Award – Most Assists – Nakul from Global Esports
5. The Saviour Award – Most Revives – Hector from Team Soul
6. The Doctor Award – Most Heals – Destro from Chemin Esports
7. The Tapatap Award – Most Headshots – Goblin from Team Soul
8. The Survivor Award – Most Survival Time – Driger from Orangutan
9. The Motorhead Award – Most Vehicle Distance – Ash from Orangutan
10. The MPV Award – Most Finishes – Jonathan from GodLike
11. The Hunger Cure Awards – Most WWCD – Orangutan

The BGMI Master Series has broken all viewership since it went live, clocking over 1.2 million impressions surpassing the impressions of Australian Open Day 1, French Open Day 1 and UEFA CL Semi-Finals! The series clocked 12.3 million views through the first eight days of broadcast on TV.

The tournament was digitally distributed by the leading live streaming and esports platform, Loco and lock screen app Glance Live. The finals on Loco garnered more than 3.6 million views with peak concurrent live viewers crossing 2.5 Lac while Glance crossed 1.7 million viewers. The tournament was also viewed by over 25 million consumers on their smartphone lock screen with Glance.

The Asia esports market is more than 57% of the $1.1 billion dollar global esports market. 

Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm covering video games, esports, and streaming in Asia and the Middle East, today announced the release of the 2022 Esports in Asia and Esports in China reports. Asia is the world’s largest and most important region for esports and Niko’s reports cover the esports markets of China, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Key takeaways from the reports include:

• The Asia esports industry generated a combined revenue of $USD 634.3 million in 2021, growing 16.6% over the previous year
• Asia’s esports audience grew by 13% in 2021. There are nearly 700 million esports fans across the region
• Asia accounts for 57% of the estimated USD $1.1 billion global esports market, a 2.7% increase over 2020

• Esports tournament prize pools in Asia totaled $60 million (USD) in 2021, up from $20 million in 2020.
• The top esports genres are Battle Royale and MOBA
• India and Southeast Asia will see the largest YoY revenue growth by the end of this year at 18.3% and 17.2%

• China remains the largest esports market in Asia and the largest single-country market in the world with USD $403.1 million in esports revenue and 434 million esports fans last year. China’s esports revenue grew by 14% and its esports audience grew by 11.8% in 2021
• Esports competitors inChina are 1.5x more engaged and spend 2.4x more on gaming when compared to gamers who do not competitively play esports

• The leading PC esports titles in Asia are League of Legends, PUBG, and Valorant

• The leading mobile esports titles in Asia are PUBG Mobile/BGMI, Free Fire, and League of Legends: Wild Rift

“2021 saw the continuation of a trend we identified in 2020, brand partnerships in esports are growing in number and value and this remains the leading value generator in the esports space,” said Alexander Champlin, director of esports research at Niko Partners. “The growing value of esports sponsorships, brand partnerships, and tournaments (both online and in-person) are the leading drivers of the market’s rebound.”

Niko’s research methodology for games market reports includes gamer surveys, trends analysis on key topics such as esports, leading games and game company market share estimates, review of regulations and policy, interviews with key game companies, analysis of drivers and inhibitors for growth, review of distribution, hardware, payments, internet cafes, and more. Each market report provides a comprehensive market model and 5-year forecast of games and gamers, and qualitative and quantitative analysis on gamer demand, behavior and usage for games.