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The Indian Valorant esports ecosystem has been on a steady road to success ever since Riot Games’ shooter got its official launch in June 2020.
However, even with the boom seen by the industry over time, there are some glaring issues in the community. Stakeholders need to iron them out before the market is “truly there” for all intents and purposes.
In a conversation with Abhishek Mallick of Sportskeeda Esports, Mansoor “Nabu” Ahmed, Director of Esports at The Esports Club, opened up about some problems plaguing the Indian Valorant ecosystem. He talked about the Challenger Series, the future he envisions for The Esports Club, and what the next step should be for Valorant India.
Here is an excerpt of the conversation.
Q. Mansoor, I would love to hear about your journey in the field of esports and video games. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and how you came to be the Director of Esports at The Esports Club.
Mansoor: I’ve been gaming for as long as I can remember. My extensive esports experience helps provide a unique perspective to our approach to esports at TEC. I’ve competed professionally for several years in DOTA 2 and League of Legends. I’ve had a lot of FPS experience as well with Overwatch in the past. In fact, that’s how I met my co-founders Vamsi (Krishna) and Ishaan (Arya).
While I certainly keep up to date with all the new games, I am lucky enough that my job requires me to play games regularly. My first love will remain DOTA 2, and I try to make enough time for it every week.
Q. While the Indian video games and esports industry is still in its nascency, the market saw tremendous growth over the last two years. What are your thoughts on where the industry stands today and the growth you project for it over the next five years?
Mansoor: I think we’ve been lucky to be one of the few industries that weren’t too negatively impacted by COVID-19. We managed to find alternatives and create a lot of success stories as an industry. While the explosive growth was undoubtedly fantastic, I do see things normalizing a little in the immediate future, but we’re still going to be heading up for sure.
Q. The Esports Club Challenger Series for Valorant has been one of the more successful tournament IPs for the organization. Talk to us about some of the visions that went behind it, and was it able to meet some of your expectations in the long run, especially when it came to community participation?
Mansoor: The Esports Club Challenger Series is really where it all began for Valorant in the region. Our goal after the success of the AMD Cup was to create a premium PC esports IP that would provide grassroots opportunities and a slightly longer-term roadmap for players.
There’s no doubt that it was a huge success; it was the first significant PC esports IP to receive a lot of attention. The experience and journey were invaluable for us in helping create a large stable ecosystem for Valorant in the region.
Now it’s only fitting that our partnership with Intel for the TEC Challenger Series helps take the event to an international level, with teams from all South Asia and Southeast Asia allowed to participate!
Q. When it comes to popularity, there is a significant gap between PC and mobile esports in India, with the latter enjoying staggeringly high numbers. And while Valorant was able to revive the PC esports market in South Asia to an extent, it’s still not as robust as its mobile counterpart. What are your thoughts on the future of PC esports in India, and do you see the gap between the two platforms diminishing in the near future?
Mansoor: As you rightly mentioned, there is no doubt that mobile is king in India. However, we believe that the PC esports market’s potential is significant enough not to be ignored.
While the success of Valorant certainly speaks for itself, I truly believe that for an ecosystem to grow and develop, stakeholders and industry leads will need to make consistent and long-term investments.
I take it as my calling to be a part of Indian Valorant and help develop a fantastic local ecosystem for the shooter to nurture talent within the region.
Q. The Esports Club Showdown brought in some of the top teams from Singapore like Paper Rex, Bleed eSports, and Alter Ego to go toe-to-toe with the best that Indian Valorant has to offer. Tell us a bit about the new format introduced in Showdown and how it looked to benefit the domestic scene by bringing international teams to the tournament.
Mansoor: While our IP’s served the purpose of providing regular competitive opportunities for players within the region, we quickly realized to really help them move up the ladder, we had to look beyond the sub-continent.
This is where the concept of the TEC Showdown was born. To allow top teams from the South Asian region to get a taste of a different competitive ecosystem by facing some of the best-invited teams from South East Asia.
Now, with the new format of the TEC Challenger Series, we’re extending this opportunity to grassroots teams with open qualifiers for both regions to try and reach the playoffs to compete with the best across different regions.
Q. For the upcoming rendition of the Challenger Series, The Esports Club will be partnering with Intel to offer a massive prize pool of INR 15 lakhs. What are some of your expectations from this event?
Mansoor: We’re incredibly excited to partner with Intel to take the TEC Challenger Series, one of the more popular Valorant IPs in the region, to new heights with our new expanded scope of allowing teams from both South Asia and Southeast Asia.
A big thanks to Sukamal Pegu from Riot India for helping create an event of this scale that keeps players and viewers excited about Valorant in the region. We’re looking at one of the most exciting Valorant events around because this is going to be a genuinely open international event in the region for the first time.
Q. What, according to you, are some of the biggest challenges that the esports industry faces in India today? Especially when it comes to providing the grassroots the necessary means and the platform to develop their craft.
Mansoor: I think a lack of professionalism is still something that’s holding back the ecosystem at the highest levels. Teams, players, contracts; we’re still not there yet, but we’re moving in the right direction.
At the grassroots, we need more opportunities for players to see this as a part-time or full-time career. The ecosystem can’t grow and survive if it’s a viable career only for 4 or 5 teams.
We’re actively working with stakeholders to create these opportunities at all tiers to ensure Indian esports can reach its true potential in PC esports.
Q. With esports finally getting added as a medal event in the 2022 Asian Games, what effect do you feel it will have on the South Asian scene as it stands today? Will it be taken as seriously as some traditional sporting events?
Mansoor: Being added as a medal event in the Asian Games definitely helps give esports a lot of credibility and mainstream visibility. We’ve already seen many European and Southeast Asian countries acknowledge esports as not just a major industry but also as a major sporting event with a robust ecosystem.
So we’re heading in the right direction. It’ll take time to be considered in the same space as traditional sports, but if it’s seen as a formal competitive ecosystem, that is good.
Q. Valorant has been an incredible success in the Indian PC ecosystem, and the competition has indeed been improving by the day. What do you feel about the future of Valorant in India, and how well the domestic teams will fair against some of the best that the West will have to offer when the next VCT circuit comes knocking?
Mansoor: Valorant has definitely been a much-needed breath of fresh air for PC esports in the region. As a player who’s been in and around the PC esports ecosystem with League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Overwatch, it’s fantastic to see PC esports see so much interest.
And I feel that this is just the beginning of the growth.
Q. What’s in store for The Esports Club next? What other titles will the organization will be looking to expand its IP to in the near future?
Mansoor: We’ve enjoyed a successful 2021 with the support of our partners, publishers, and of course, the entire esports community. We will continue building upon the strong IPs we have introduced and take them to new heights next year.
Valorant, of course, will remain a big focus for us, but we’re actively working with multiple partners and publishers to provide a base for other ecosystems as well. We’ve got a lot of exciting plans, and all I can say right now is that it’s going to be very exciting for both PC and mobile esports in India.
