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Esports finally being recognized as a medal event in the 19th Asian Games is indeed a monumental step ahead for the South Asian video games scene.
Industry leads have talked about just how historic the inclusion has been, while voicing their hopes for a new generation of esports talents to propel the region forward.
Skyesports Founder/CEO, Shiva Nandy, is one such hopeful who feels that Indian gaming athletes will bring home more than bronze this time around. In a conversation with Abhishek Mallick of Sportskeeda Esports, he talks about Skyesports' 2022 roadmap, multiple events with INR 1 crore prize pool each, the Road to Asian Games program, and his thoughts on the Indian government's proclamation of an AVGC task force.
Here is an expcert of the interaction.
Shiva Nandy on the future of South Asian esports
Q. Skyesports’ roadmap for 2022 looks stacked. But before we get on with your plans for the year, tell me a bit about 2021 and all the major highs and lows that Skyesports enjoyed throughout the year. What would you say were some of the biggest highlights for the organisation?
Shiva: Last year was an immensely successful one for us as we hit and exceeded all of our targeted goals. We received over 280,000 registrations across different competitions and Skyesports’ events featured a total prize pool of more than Rs. 1.6 crores.
We can attribute this huge level of engagement to the wide portfolio of games that are included in our IPs. We also entered the much-anticipated Free Fire to close off the year.
Many other highlights such as the launch of Sky Route, investment by JetSynthesys, and the Skyesports Championship 3.0 Award Ceremony in Mumbai, where Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar graced his presence.
In addition to increased participation, we can proudly say that we have seen astonishing growth in viewership across all of our IPs and even at grassroots level competitions. Indian esports is just getting started and we are excited about the future.
Q. 2022 looks quite exciting for Skyesports fans, from Skyesports Grand Slam to Pro League, to Championship 4.0, you have a lot of big events in store with prize pools of INR 1 crore in multiple events. Can you shed some light on some of the thoughts and decisions behind this roadmap, and why it’s turning out to be one of the biggest seasons for the organization yet?
Shiva: As with all of our tournaments, the team asks itself - “What does the audience need?” We use this to select the games in the tournaments and have done so while planning out the year.
The roadmap has been scheduled by working with the developers and keeping in mind other official tournaments. We have also ensured that aspiring gamers have an open-for-all competition to hone their skills in different games throughout much of the year.
With the growth in prize pools and a return to LAN events, we are very excited for the year. LAN events will also enable us to produce additional content to increase engagement from the audience.
We are also organizing tournaments for several games this year so that there is something for everyone. The opportunity for newer champions and exposure to budding talent is very much on the cards. It will undoubtedly be the biggest year for Skyesports.
Q. Some of your events will be looking to go LAN in 2022, which is quite a big step in bringing the format back to the scene. So what are some of the preemptive measures you will be taking to ensure safety during these events? Will a live audience be permitted? As new COVID-19 variants aren't exactly making it easy to host tournaments that require players to be physically present on stage, let alone have a live audience.
Shiva: All traditional sports have returned to LAN events and we think it's time for esports as well. The safety of our staff and participants is our top priority. We will be forming bio-bubbles during LAN events along with regular testing to ensure they are conducted safely.
Speaking of live audiences, I can’t say anything about that right now. We would absolutely love to have an audience at Skyesports’ LAN events but that depends on the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, the answer is no, but this could change depending on the state of the pandemic.
Q. Regional expansion for events is also something that a number of Indian tournament hosts have been looking to or have started branching out to in recent months. Hence, when it comes to the inclusion of SEA teams in events around titles like Valorant, Free Fire, and Supercell games, what plans do Skyesports have in store?
Shiva: We are looking to tap into SEA later this year and another market with the Skyesports Tri-Series in Dubai. While we can’t share the exact games right now, I can say that we are always looking to include more games and incorporate a wider audience in our IPs.
Another area of expansion that we are focusing on in 2022 is within India. We have a solid base in tier 1 cities. With more grassroots-level competitions, we will be looking at growing the audience in tier 2 and tier 3 cities as well.
We already gave a glimpse of how we planned to do this with the Skyesports Skirmish Series last year, which split the country into smaller zones to increase participation and give chances to teams from all corners of the country to reach the finals.
Q. Apart from regional expansions, will there be new video game titles that the organization will be looking to expand its IP into? What are some of the new games you will be looking to do events on in 2022?
Shiva: We entered Free Fire towards the end of 2021 and will be including the battle royale title in several of our IPs this year. Of course, BGMI and VALORANT will be regular additions to our competitions as well. We will also be hosting games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and more throughout 2022.
I think that we have entered most games with a competitive scenario in the region already. Nonetheless, we are always keeping an eye out for new titles that emerge and upcoming games.
Q. I can’t help but notice the inclusion of Riot Games’ League of Legends in your roadmap. Unlike Valorant, the game never really took off in India, so I am quite curious to know why you decided to include that for the 2022 roadmap.
Shiva: I agree, League of Legends may be one of the biggest esports titles in the world, but it never caught on in India. However, the game has been included in the Asian Games 2022 and we will be hosting tournaments for it as a part of the #RoadtoAsianGames program. It will allow teams from India to hone their skills as they prepare to face other countries in the Asiad in China.
I think that the game’s popularity will increase after the Asian Games and we will be looking to keep including the game in the future.
Q. With the Asian Games 2022 almost upon us, what are some of your expectations from India’s pool of esports athletes across each of the games? How is the Road to Asian games program looking to help the aspirants?
Shiva: The inclusion of esports as a medal event in the Asian Games is a historic one. I hope this will enable the ministry of sports to finally accept esports and recognize a worthy federation that works for the growth of esports in India.
India has a lot of talent and while we got one bronze medal in 2018, I think that the tremendous growth of the industry since then should enable us to increase that tally.
We are perhaps the only organization working to ensure that the athletes are prepared ahead of the Asian Games. As I mentioned, we are including games like League of Legends for precisely this reason. The Road to Asian Games program provides crucial practice to the players.
Q. The Budget 2022 announcement has been quite fortuitous for India’s AVGC sector, with the government promising a task force for it in the near future. What are your thoughts regarding this announcement, and the type of boost that the Indian video games and esports industry will be injected with, when the intended plans come to fruition?
Shiva: It’s great to see the Indian government talk about gaming and esports and focus on the tremendous untapped potential the industry possesses.
I hope that this will give a boost to local developers to make world-class games played around the globe. Currently, we are organizing tournaments for Real Cricket which have been made by the Indian company, Nautilus Mobile. We would love to include more homegrown and indigenous games in our IPs.
Also, as I mentioned earlier, I hope that the government recognizes esports and selects an able federation to work for its development in the country.
Q. What leaps in viewership and community participation, according to you, can we expect mobile, PC, and console gaming in India to take in 2022?
Shiva: India has always been a mobile-first market. However, in the past two years or so we, have seen the growth of VALORANT which is a PC game. I think that the growing gamer-base of India would result in more growth across all platforms.
The Asian Games also included both mobile and PC titles, so it will also play a part in growing games that have not been very popular before.
