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The addition of esports as a medal even in the 2022 Asian Games has been an unprecedented success for the industry.
Not only is esports becoming more mainstream, but it's slowly and eventually becoming more accepted as a traditional sporting event across all cultures and markets.
In a conversation with Abhishek Mallick of Sportskeeda Esports, Mr. Tarun Gupta, founder of Ultimate Battle, opened up about the impact that the upcoming Asian Games could have on the South Asian esports scene. He talks about the future of his platform and the talent pool that India currently possesses in competitive gaming.
Here is an excerpt of the conversation.
Q. Sir, what are your thoughts on the Indian esports scene for both Mobile and PC? Where do you see these respective markets in the next five years? Will the PC be able to bridge the gap in terms of popularity?
Tarun Gupta: Mobile and PC gaming is all about accessibility to the devices. As a developing nation, India is a mobile-first ecosystem, and we see the popularity of mobile esports increasing more in upcoming years. PC gaming has its roots, which will grow as India develops more economically and more gamers indulge in hardcore gaming.
As far as bridging the gap is concerned, mobile gaming has its perk in both portability and accessibility. We see mobile gaming growing higher, which will in turn also boost the PC gaming space as PC gaming provides a more indulging gaming experience.
Q. Talk to us a bit about the user engagement in Ultimate Battle. Which title sees the most popular amongst users? And which title has had the most growth in engagement over the last year?
Tarun Gupta: With the popularity of esports is rising, we’re seeing a rise in engagement as well as a change in gaming patterns. As more users are joining the gaming community, there is a notable increase in competitiveness among players where Ultimate Battle comes into play as an online esports platform.
Mobile games like BGMI and Free Fire are one of the top Esport titles in terms of engagement. We introduced Chess on our platform in January 2021, and we’re seeing a great rise in its popularity and player engagement.
Q. You recently announced the All India esports League event, featuring Battlegrounds Mobile India, FIFA 21, Valorant, Free Fire, and Chess. Talk to us about some of the ideas behind the event and why you picked Chess as one of the competitive titles for AIEL.
Tarun Gupta: At Ultimate Battle, we envision providing the Indian audience with a framework where they can showcase their skills and grow as an esports athlete. All India esports League was conceptualized to promote and celebrate the growth of esports and reach out to a larger competitive gaming audience.
With AIEL-2021, we did not just want to do a one-off single game event but promote multiple games for PC, Mobile as well as Console gamers. This, in turn, will boost the overall gaming ecosystem in India and keep the wheel turning.
Chess as a game for AIEL became evident for us with the shared player engagement where players who usually play other titles also love to engage in chess matches on a regular basis. On standalone also, Chess has a very big audience in India with demographics very different from titles like BGMI and Valorant.
Q. With the Asian Games 2022 on the horizon, tell us a bit about some of your expectations from the event? How well do you feel the Indian representative will fare in the upcoming competition?
Tarun Gupta: India has a huge number of gamers, but it is segregated into numerous game titles. Apart from PUBG Mobile, which is widely popular in India as BGMI, the community size of other games in Asian Games 2022 like DOTA 2, League of Legends, and Dream Three Kingdoms are very compact in size. We have a champion athlete, Tirth Mehta, in Hearthstone, with whom we all expect the most to bring the laurel for the country again.
Moreover, there are still more than a few highly skilled players for these titles in India, but it will take time, effort, and support by esports bodies to nurture them so that they could get India the medals in Asian Games.
Q. Ultimate Battle has also included some of the Asian Games esports titles on the platform. In which way do you feel this will encourage these titles to gain more popularity in the Indian esports market? Especially in a game like League of Legends, whose popularity in the nation has been dwindling for some time now?
Tarun Gupta: With the announcement of esports game titles in Asian Games 2022, we were very excited as this substantiates the esports industry as a Sporting culture event. With esports all set to make its debut at the Asian Games next year, Ultimate Battle now boasts of all the five esports medal games that India may participate in. Regular tournaments will be hosted on the UB platform, providing an optimum chance for casual gamers as well as professional esports athletes to ace their games.
They will also have a ranking system in place as part of the automated leaderboard, based on the performances of each of the players. The winners will be awarded exciting prize money.
We are also in talks with several stakeholders in the esports industry to get the ball rolling on procedural steps to be taken to ensure fair participation and provide skilled players with the chance to get proper training and represent India at the World level.
Q. PUBG Mobile will have its very own Asian Games version at the event. Can you shed some light on what this version entails and how different it is from the global one?
Tarun Gupta: PUBG Mobile as a game is banned in India, and we’ve BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India), which is exclusive to Indian players only. As far as gameplay is concerned, there are no major changes in the game versions.
Q. With India playing on a completely different version of PUBG Mobile, i.e., Battlegrounds Mobile India, do you feel that Indian players will be able to participate in the event? If so, what can be some of the qualifying criteria?
Tarun Gupta: With the Asian version of PUBG Mobile in Asian Games 2022, there is doubt among Indian professional players on their participation and representation of a game that is banned in India. In a recent India Today conclave, Krafton country head had talked on this point at being in talks with authorities of Asian games on conceptualizing event format in which Indian players can also participate.
Q. With esports finally becoming a medal event in the Asian Games 2022, what kind of growth do you feel it will usher in for the scene, and in not just India, but for the entire South Asian region?
Tarun Gupta: The addition of esports titles in Asian Games has pushed for the growth of esports in the world as well as recognition of esports as a sporting event. The event will have a major impact in terms of perception and acceptance of esports among a massive audience. We are also waiting for our sports authority to recognize esports as a sport where the athletes will be treated like any other sports athlete in the country.
Q. With Free Fire MAX finally here, what are some of your thoughts regarding the game? How do you see it affecting the Indian esports market in the coming months?
Tarun Gupta: Free Fire has been among the top contenders in engagement in the Indian gaming community. With Free Fire Max, there have been major improvements in graphics as well as macro features, which makes the game more indulging.
As the game publisher, Garena has always been proactive in pushing for an esports framework around Free Fire, which we’ve seen with many major events organized in the past few years. With Free Fire Max, we see the engagement rate of the game increasing, which will, in turn, attract more audiences to play the game and boost the overall esports ecosystem.
Q. What’s next for Ultimate Battle? Tell us a bit about the subscription model and why gamers today are valuing it more.
Tarun Gupta: At Ultimate Battle, it’s always about curating new experiences for players and providing solutions to boost the esports ecosystem in India. With this in mind, we’re in the process of launching the “Host your Event” feature on Ultimate Battle, which will allow influencers, schools, colleges, and Organizers to use Ultimate Battle as an event platform and organize their Events seamlessly and easily.
Talking about the subscription model, it was conceptualized to offer the gaming community something more engaging and rewarding. We added exclusive features like Cash Prize Leaderboards and Game Item Shop, which not only increases the rewards for playing better but also “gamifies” the experience of a player on the platform.
