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The competitive esports landscape never truly harbors a stagnant ecosystem.
As the scene twists and turns with every popular title that hits the market, finding relevance in a field that changes on a dime is one of the most difficult tricks in the book to master.
But there have been some who have molded much of the uncertainty to their liking, and not only have they persevered through the many cycles of change, but thrived in an ecosystem that never stands still.
Team Vitality is by far one of the most successful esports organizations in the world. From boasting an incredible CS: GO lineup to having promising upcoming talent in both League of Legends and Rocket League, the org has an iconic presence in every popular esports title.
And to make things sweeter for their fans in South Asia, team Vitality has recently announced their entry into the Indian Esports market. And although they may have begun with content creators, some esports rosters are definitely on the horizon.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Esports’ Abhishek Mallick, Amit Jain, CEO of Rewired.GG (the org that is investing in Vitality) opened up about Team Vitality’s goals in India, and what he expects to achieve in the coming months.
Here is an excerpt of that conversation.
Q. The Team Vitality CS:GO roster has had a tremendous amount of success in both IEM and Blast in 2020. What are your thoughts on how the team has come together and played some incredible CS: GO this year?
Amit Jain: Team Vitality’s CS:GO team is the best in the world and it's great that they have been able to cement this with a very successful 2020. It's a credit to the young talent we have and the infrastructure and training schedules that Team Vitality has in place to take the young talent and transform them into superstars. I will also add our ability to innovate within the space with the introduction of the six-man roster.
Q. How did it feel like for the CS: GO squad to be topping in online tournaments and not on LAN? What major mindset changes did they have to go through?
Amit Jain: 2020 has been a tough year for our players as they’ve adjusted from playing in stadiums to online. It’s great to see that the CS:GO team has been able to adapt to so many different factors and played well consistently throughout the year.
It was unfortunate that after playing so well till recently we were not able to pick up a renowned trophy but finally it changed. I give credit to Team Vitality who believed in themselves, adapted to playing online and even after few close losses believed in themselves and the coaching staff who not only guided them technically but also helped them mentally and emotionally to adapt and perform at the highest levels.
It’s unknown what the next year will bring with regards to live tournaments but in Team Vitality’s current form we have very high expectations.
Q. Dan "apEX" Madesclaire had a major role as the roster’s IGL. How has his presence and in-game shotcalling been able to help the team?
Amit Jain: apEX has always been a pillar within the CS:GO team and it's great to see him step into the role as an IGL to continue to drive the team forward. Team Vitality has welcomed two new rookies this year, Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier and Nabil "Nivera" Benrlitom, so it's great to have someone as experienced as apEX to both lead and nurture them as they build their paths in CS:GO.
Q. Unlike Team Vitality’s CS:GO roster, their League of Legends squad wasn’t exactly able to achieve much success during both the 2020 LEC Spring and Summer split. What according to you went wrong in the LEC, even with a veteran like Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet in the top lane?
Amit Jain: 2020 was a challenging year for the Team Vitality League of Legends team with new roster members and the switch to playing from home. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into the new roster, we have some exceptional young talent and as we look to the next year the team sits in a really strong position having reflected and learnt from this year's challenges.
Q. Will Team Vitality be making some major changes for League of Legends season 11?
Amit Jain: This week Team Vitality announced the full rosters for both the League of Legends Championship (LEC) and La Ligue Française (LFL). Both rosters have welcomed new talent which marks its commitment to competitive excellence across all of its esports titles.
We are very confident in our chances this year, we have some of the best upcoming talent and with the support of our coaching staff we may surprise this upcoming season.
Q. Why is Vitality yet to have a Valorant team? Are there any plans for it in the coming months?
Amit Jain: VALORANT has a huge amount of potential and this year has seen its esports ecosystem really start to develop. Team Vitality hosted the Vitality European Open allowing them to really scope out the talent available.
With regards to plans to enter the esport, Team Vitality goes through a lot of different strategic processes to weigh up the opportunities and challenges, and when the timing is right will look to make moves. However, I can say that you can potentially expect some announcements in early 2021.
Q. Your Rocket League team has had some notable success during both S and A tier competitions, and Kyle "Scrub Killa" Robertson played a major part in that, even winning worlds MVP last year. However, with him leaving the roster in 2020, how well is the team coping with the hole he left behind?
Amit Jain: Scrub Killa is a great player and his contributions to Team Vitality saw the team reach new heights. Roster changes happen all the time and the team has only improved this year, taking home the trophy at Spring Series Europe.
Q. Vitality’s entry into the Indian video game industry, started with the org partnering with content creators. Is there any reason for you to not directly go into recruiting an orgless team for any particular esports title?
Amit Jain: Our entry into India is a big milestone for us and part of our endeavour to conquer the world of esports. Our mission here is to not just build professional teams but to also make ourselves the most aspirational esports brand in the country. Hence to start things off, we’re keen to engage with our fans in India via our content creators before competing in the biggest local tournaments with our incoming professional teams.
These content creators are part of our overall strategy to host a variety of engaging events and contests for our fans across their social media channels as well as on Team Vitality India’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Recruiting an orgless team or players is the easiest thing to do. But we prefer to do things differently. Rest assured, we have big plans for India.
Q. Is Vitality looking to enter the Indian esports scene with a team in the near future? If so, in which game are you particularly interested in making a roster and why?
Amit Jain: Yes, certainly. We plan to start off with at least one competitive roster during 2021 in India, but haven’t yet finalized on the game. We are watching the market closely and will take a final decision when we are closer to building a roster. There are many exciting scenes developing in Indian esports and we look forward to revealing our plans soon.
Q. With India, is Vitality looking to expand the pool of esports they participate in and finally take the plunge into mobile esports for the very first time?
Amit Jain: We have never been shy of taking a plunge into uncharted waters as we firmly believe that we will only gain knowledge, strength, confidence and eventually victory by every new experience and venture.
With India ranked number one in global mobile game downloads during the 1st nine months of 2020, it is obvious that the platform will continue to lead the growth of the gaming audience base in India. Therefore there’s a very high chance that our 1st roster in the country will be on a mobile game.
Q. What are your thoughts on the current esports ecosystem in India, and how well do you think that Vitality would fare here in the long run?
Amit Jain: There is so much potential in the Indian esports ecosystem. We’ve seen esports viewership almost triple in the region since 2017, and Indian pro players and content creators are becoming global icons.
India is an emerging nation and the 2nd most populous market in the world. However despite its size, its biggest problem at present is the dependency on 1-2 publishers on a single platform to drive the esports ecosystem. For the country to truly gain momentum and find a place among the top esports countries in the world, we are hopeful that gaming OEMs and publishers alike, across platforms, will come forward and invest more to enable the growth of the industry.
Though India is a high potential market, it has a long way to go and therefore must be looked at from a long-term perspective. The most important factor here is undoubtedly the dedicated recognition and support of the Government towards growing the esports industry in the country.
Whilst Team Vitality’s roots are in France, we have seen huge success with international talent around the globe, across many games. We have a very local strategy for India and we believe Team Vitality will thrive in India, and we look forward to contributing in the developing the esports ecosystem in India and cultivating with the exceptional talent available in the region.
Q. If PUBG Mobile returns to India soon, will you pick up a team there and what are your thoughts on the current Indian ecosystem with games such as Valorant, Free Fire and COD Mobile?
Amit Jain: As mentioned earlier, it’s extremely important for all stakeholders to be making long-term commitments and investments towards growing gaming audience bases and thereby the esports ecosystem. Over the past year we have been talking to several publishers to try and understand their India specific plans and strategies. We will take a final decision on which game to start off with when we are closer to building a roster.
