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Krafton India, the creators of the immensely popular battle-royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), have announced a groundbreaking partnership with global cinema icon Deepika Padukone, as per a press release. She will serve as the brand ambassador for BGMI over the next year and will soon be featured as a playable character within the game.

As part of this exclusive collaboration, players can look forward to two distinct character skins representing Padukone's iconic style and persona. This initiative marks a significant step in Krafton India's commitment to delivering immersive and localized gaming experiences tailored for Indian players.

"We are excited to partner with Deepika Padukone, a global ambassador and icon, to create unforgettable moments for our players," said Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of Krafton India. "This collaboration is an endeavor to push boundaries and deliver fresh experiences for BGMI fans. By bringing together the worlds of gaming and entertainment with the biggest star at its forefront, we aim to create a truly immersive and engaging world within BGMI."

Expressing her enthusiasm for the partnership, Deepika Padukone commented, "It is a thrilling opportunity to embark on this new chapter with the BGMI family. Gaming has become a cultural phenomenon in India, and I'm excited to connect with the incredible energy of the gaming community. It's an honor to be a part of something so dynamic and engaging. I look forward to seeing how my fans react to the in-game avatar and exclusive items!"

This collaboration follows Krafton's successful partnerships with other Indian celebrities such as Ranveer Singh, Hardik Pandya, and the Mumbai Indians cricket team. 

By consistently integrating prominent Indian figures into the game, Krafton aims to redefine the gaming landscape in India and solidify BGMI's position as a cultural icon. 

Krafton has consistently redefined the Indian gaming landscape by delivering localized experiences that resonate deeply with players. With each new collaboration, game release, and title update, the company demonstrates its commitment to innovation and customization. 

The partnership with Deepika Padukone is the latest testament to this approach, further enhancing BGMI's appeal among Indian gamers. 

Deepika Padukone joins BGMI as Brand Ambassador

Mobile gaming in India is on the rise. However, surprisingly, PC game titles like Fortnite and Valorant are the most talked-about games on social media platforms, with Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) ranking third in gaming-related conversations.

Sprinklr Insights which uses AI to gather and analyze social conversations across various news outlets and social media platforms states that the social media platform X has emerged as the most popular platform for gaming discussions, with approximately 2.52 million gaming-related conversations on social media since January 2021.

India's video games market generated revenue of $830 million in 2023, up 15.9 percent year-over-year (YoY), slightly down from the 19 percent growth seen in 2022, according to Niko Partners. The market is expected to grow by 13.6 percent in 2024, with revenue projected to reach $943 million, surpassing $1 billion in 2025, and forecasted to hit $1.4 billion in 2028, with a five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.1 percent.

As per the report, mobile games will continue to dominate the Indian gaming market, accounting for 77.9 percent of total revenue, followed by PC games at 14.5 percent and console games at 7.7 percent.

Sprinklr Insights also reported that there were 2.52 million conversations on X about #gaming since January 2021 which reached a phenomenal 143.57 billion impressions. However, social media chatter around gaming has experienced interesting fluctuations over the years. 

In 2021, gaming conversations peaked with 1.8 million engagements stemming from 136.85K discussions on social media, likely due to the increased popularity of mobile gaming and social restrictions during the pandemic. 

In 2022, there was a noticeable dip, with 106.8K users participating in 1.32 million conversations, possibly due to market saturation, consumer fatigue, or a return to pre-pandemic routines. Interestingly, 2023 saw a rebound in gaming chatter, with 130.7K conversations and 1.56 million engagements, possibly due to new game releases or a resurgence in interest.

So far, 2024 has shown a steady continuation of this upward trend, with even more engagement around the gaming hashtag, totaling 1.64 million. This suggests ongoing interest in gaming and a stable presence in social media conversations.

According to Sprinklr Insights, PC game titles, particularly Fortnite and Valorant, continue to dominate online gaming chatter, with Valorant's tactical shooter gameplay garnering significant attention in second place. Meanwhile, the mobile game BGMI, with its localized content and familiar gameplay, holds the third spot in online gaming discussions.

In terms of social media chatter about top gaming streamers in India, Tanmay Singh, also known as 'sc0utOP' is topping the charts in social media mentions, closely followed by Ankit ‘v3nom’ Panth.


Valorant and Fortnite lead India's online gaming chatter, BGMI follows close behind

The government of Meghalaya has officially announced its support for an Indian esports team, Jubilant Divine Esports. This makes Meghalaya the first Indian state to officially sponsor an esports team. Additionally, Telangana is likely to be the first state to introduce comprehensive esports policies.

Wanshankupar Suchiang, CEO of Jubilant Divine Esports, told StoryBoard18, “We are extremely proud that the Meghalaya government believed in our vision and supported us. We aim to grow esports in the state. Our goal is to prepare for medal events in the Olympics and to compete in esports titles globally.”

Suchiang further stated, “Currently, we have our Battlegrounds Mobile India roster, but we are planning to expand into other game titles such as Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, and Dota, among others. It always benefits the ecosystem when the government shares the same vision of growing esports in the country.”

Suchiang said, “The government sponsoring the team is a positive sign for the Indian gaming ecosystem. We truly believe that India has a huge potential in not only gaming but in esports as well.” 

Meghalaya-based Jubilant Divine Esports announced on its social media platforms, “In a landmark move for the esports community in Meghalaya, Shri Kyrmen Shylla, Minister of Excise, along with Meghalaya Sports Minister Shri Shakliar Warjri, have publicly shown their support for esports for the first time ever.”

“Shri Kyrmen Shylla has extended his support to Jubilant Divine Esports, the only team representing Meghalaya in the ongoing BMPS Tournament. The ministers emphasized that this is just the beginning, as they plan to work closely with the Meghalaya government to transform the state into a hub for esports.”

Meghalaya's vision includes developing esports infrastructure, hosting tournaments, and providing comprehensive support to players, with the aim of bringing them to the forefront and representing Meghalaya, and India, on the global stage, including in future esports Olympics.

The team will be participating in Krafton’s third edition of the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series 2024. BMPS is set to kick off on August 20th, featuring 128 invited teams competing for a massive prize pool of Rs 2 Crore. The tournament will unfold over a month, with the league phase played online and the Grand Finals taking place offline in Kochi, Kerala, from September 27th to September 29th, 2024.

Meghalaya becomes first Indian state to sponsor an esports team

Krafton’s Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) is one of the major game titles for the Indian esports industry. Despite being the most popular battle royale game in the country, Krafton has struggled to address the rising concerns about cheaters using hacks. Recently, Nodwin Gaming disqualified and banned three teams from the Philips OneBlade Battleground Mobile India Cup 2024 for cheating by using unauthorized and unethical methods during the official esports tournament.

CS Esports, Falcon Esports, and RK Esports were banned for using third-party software in their initial five matches. These teams have been banned from all Nodwin Gaming tournaments for one year. Hacking incidents in official tournaments not only brings disrepute to the game publishers and tournament organizers but also to the brands associated with the esports property. 

Karan Pathak, Associate Director of Esports at Krafton India, spoke to Storyboard18 about the increasing number of hackers in the game and issues around tournament organizers to host third-party tournaments.

When asked about the increasing incidents of hacking during official esports tournaments, Karan Pathak said that Krafton is taking multiple steps to curb hacking in-game. “We have always been protective of our players and our game. Hackers create a bad experience for every player. We are releasing regular patch updates to address new hacks to protect the game and community.”

Elaborating further, Pathak said, “As the community and the game get bigger, hackers are trying to create better hacks. We are fighting that by recording gameplay and using handcams.” He also pointed out that instead of singling out a player, Krafton penalizes the entire team to protect the individual player.

According to a report by AWS and Lumikai, India’s esports sector is projected to grow from $40 million in 2022 to $140 million by 2027, with a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 32 percent. The report also found that the number of esports players in India grew from 150,000 in 2021 to 600,000 in 2022, and is expected to reach 1.5 million by 2027.

Recently, multiple tournament organizers have raised concerns about publishers not permitting them to host third-party tournaments. During and post COVID-19, there were around 9-10 active tournament organizers for both PC and mobile esports game titles. Most of them now have shut their business operations. Organizers blamed publishers for not allowing them to host tournaments, which they claim led to a decline in the growth of esports in the country.

Addressing these concerns, Pathak said that Krafton is working with esports organizations to ensure there is no overlapping of events. He shared that to streamline the process and experience for organizers, Krafton has recently launched a dedicated esports website on Krafton.com, which will act as a central hub for all things BGMI.

Pathak said, “In the past, event organizers had to send proposals about their plans for hosting tournaments via email. This new streamlined approach will enable Krafton to make sure there are no scheduling conflicts that could impact the overall esports calendar.”

Pathak also mentioned that Krafton prioritizes team autonomy but not at the expense of fair play within BGMI. He discussed Krafton monitoring the brands that organizers partner with in tournaments.

Regarding a recent incident, Krafton had clarified that ‘Fearless Esports’ has no association with them. Fearless Esports was allegedly involved in collecting data of female players by falsely claiming their connection with Krafton. “We keep a close watch on esports activities in India, but it is difficult to monitor private platforms like Telegram. We actively monitor unauthorized use of Krafton on multiple platforms.”

'Hackers are trying to create better hacks', says Krafton

In a bid to amplify reach and attract more brands on collaborative initiatives, NODWIN Gaming, part of Nazara Technologies (BSE: NAZARA) is ramping up its marketing initiatives. The esports company spent upwards of Rs 50 crore on this effort in the last one year. The company that has created close to 25 IPs in this period expects its marketing spends to grow further in line with their growth.

Alongside spending on ads on gaming and esports platforms, brands are particularly attracted to IPs simply for their popularity and millennial fan following. Naturally, the focus for NODWIN has been creating IPs and new benchmarks around them.

Talking of benchmarks, NODWIN Gaming sold the media rights of its marque property Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) Masters Series to Star becoming the first player to have an esports tournament televised on prime time television.

According to Vishal Parekh, CMO, NODWIN Gaming, this created the opportunity for immense reach for not just the series, but also all the partnering brands.

The series clocked 1.2 million impressions on its opening day, beating the impressions of globally followed tournaments like the Australian Open 2022 that recorded 10.5 lakh impressions on day 1, the French Open day 1 with 6.5 lakh impressions and the UEFA CL semi-finals that saw 4.6 lakh impressions, according to data provided by the company.

In general, the viewership of esports in India is at an all-time high.

As per business intelligence platform Statista, in the financial year 2021, there were around 17 million viewers of esports in India. The number of viewers was almost double that of 2019. It was estimated that in 2025, there would be around 85 million viewers of esports events on 20 different platforms making India one of the fastest growing markets for eSports viewership.

According to a broker research report by Prabhudas Lilladher based on a NDR with Manish Agarwal, CEO of Nazara Technologies Battle Grounds Mobile India (BGMI) Master Series IP telecasted on Star Sports between June-24 and July17 is likely to be profitable from first year itself.

Profitable or not, NODWIN has managed to bag brand deals across categories for the IP.

“Thanks to the viewership, the number of non-endemic brands showing interest in the category has gone up,” says Parekh.

“Initially we would have only the likes of gaming brands, IT players, PC manufacturers, headset manufacturers and storage providers collaborating with us. But the interest in the category is now coming from outside the esports ecosystem. We started off the tournament with just two partners but went on to have seven sponsors on board, which include Swiggy, Hyundai, Spotify, Wings and Gillette,” Parekh adds.

Brand collaborations have been clocking strong revenues in the last two years. According to the latest annual report of Nazara, NODWIN saw a growth momentum in revenues with 74 percent growth in FY 2020- 21 over FY 2019-20.

