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Since its release in 2020, Valorant has grown into one of the most popular PC gaming titles played across India. Riot Games' tactical shooter succeeded in reviving the esports scene in a country that had been let down by several other games in the past.
In February 2022, Riot Games announced the establishment of a new management team for the Asia-Pacific region, promising to expand their publishing reach to various regions within South Asia and South-East Asia.
As part of their expansion project, Riot Games recently appointed Ashish Gupta, former Assistant Vice President at Reliance Jio, as the Marketing Leader for Riot India.
Gupta's appointment is Riot's first step towards establishing an office in India. Due to the ever-rising growth of Valorant in the country, Riot plans to invest more in order to facilitate the game's Indian community.
Sukamal Pegu talks about Riot Games' vision behind establishing an office in India and how it can help Valorant in the country
During the AMD Skyesports Souvenir LAN held in Mumbai, Sportskeeda Esports had the opportunity to talk to two esteemed members of Riot Games - Ashish Gupta (the new Marketing Leader for Riot India) and Sukamal Pegu (Head of Publishing for India and South Asia).
In response to questions from Sportskeeda Esports, Ashish Gupta and Sukamal Pegu gave their thoughts on the formation of Riot Games' office in India.
Q: What is Riot Games' vision behind establishing an office in India?
Gupta: Riot was anyways building offices in the South-East Asian and South Asian regions. That is why the idea of a new structure for India came. I was the first hire for that project. We will be hiring more people and will probably be opening an office.
Pegu: The whole philosophy is to basically be where the fans are, right? India as a community for Valorant is at a stage where it is not viable for us to publish the game by not being on the ground. This is an inherent philosophy of opening up multiple offices globally as well in places where we know our fans are.
The reason for us to be there is to be able to service them from the ground. We want to be where our players are, our partners are, where we see that we can unlock more things by being there, rather than being in a different location and trying to understand what is happening.
So that is our philosophy. We want to be where our fans are, our players are, and opening up the Indian office is an indication of where our fans are, right? So that's the reason we're here, and we are super happy to have this journey.
It wasn't until late 2021 that South Asian Valorant teams received representation at the prestigious VCT tournaments. However, the ongoing VCT 2022 circuit includes India and South Asia as part of the APAC region, thereby providing players from the country an opportunity to compete in Riot-organized Valorant events.
With the establishment of a dedicated office within the region, Riot Games will have the resources to provide players with more opportunities to compete while also steadily improving the country's gaming ecosystem.
