Esports in India will receive a major boost after a Mukesh Ambani investment in a new company in the emerging sector.
RISE Worldwide Limited (RISE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, and BLAST Esports have announced an agreement to form a joint venture to conduct esports business in India.
The strategic partnership will help to accelerate growth in the gaming market in the South Asian country by bringing BLAST’s globally recognised esports properties and production techniques.
Esports in India
It will also co-create new tournament IPs tailored to the fast-growing gaming market, Reliance said in a media release.
BLAST, a Europe-based esports entertainment company, is one of the biggest tournament organisers in the world, working with the world’s best game publishers and brands.
These events unite top-tier teams and the biggest stars in the scene as they compete for multimillion-dollar prize pools, with arena stops in 2025 set for cities like London, Singapore, Austin, and Rio.
The strategic partnership will form a new JV entity, and will bring together BLAST’s esports media production expertise, publisher relationships, wide suite of highly popular IPs, and Jio’s technology expertise, unparalleled distribution reach, and local relationships to host these events on the JioGames platform.
The JV will cater to the entire esports spectrum such as services to publishers and sponsors, end-to-end tournament management, targeted marketing and production and broadcasting.
Robbie Douek, CEO for BLAST, said by partnering with Reliance, a market leader with unparalleled expertise and reach in India, the company has a unique opportunity to elevate the local esports scene to new heights.
“This joint venture will not only help grow the Indian esports ecosystem but also create new pathways for local talent to shine on the global stage,” he said.
BLAST currently works with leading game publishers such as Epic Games, Valve, Riot Games, KRAFTON and Ubisoft to produce, market and deliver esports for popular titles in Rocket League, Fortnite, Rainbow Six, PUBG, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.
Devang Bhimjyani, Head of Reliance Sports, said the company is confident that with this partnership, India esports will be able to realise its full potential.
“With this JV, Reliance will extend its interest in sports into esports and leverage RISE’s ability to market and promote sporting events and teams, along with Jio providing its distribution and technology expertise,” he said.
India is billed as the fastest growing gaming market with a massive gamer base of more than 600 million.
The country’s gaming market is projected to grow at a CAGR of about 19 per cent to reach $9.2bn by 2029 from the estimated $3.8bn in 2024.
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