Indian Billionaire Ronnie Screwvala announced the launch of an eSports league in India. It will be the biggest league organized in India.
The league named Ucypher will feature 10 teams participating across various esports titles such as Dota2, FIFA, CSGO. Esports in India has always been a slow starter. Most of the reasons range from slow internet speeds to low hardware specifications. Esports has never been taken seriously in eSports in India. With parents not supporting gamers for the majority, this league is extremely important towards the development of eSports.
Ucypher will function under the parent company of Usports. Usports is a sports company in India. It is primarily focussed on Kabaddi in India currently.
What is Usports?
U Sports as a company aims to work with this ever-evolving sports ecosystem in India with a projective view of the world. Thereby synergising the growth of a scalable sports company that is organically growing with the Indian Economy.Our aim is to be among the best in crafting the present and building the future of sports in India with a two-pronged approach where we focus on pro-sports and ground up developmental sport programmes. In pro- sports, we build Professional Sports IPs and Teams through focused youth programmes and integrated mass media collaborations. We lay equal emphasis on development of sports in our country and therefore a key element of our agenda is to recognise existing and emerging forms of sports in India; and offer a platform to encourage talent, provide a lifestyle and metamorphose young aspirations into a reality.
Usports itself has been a revolution of sorts in India. Sports organizations investing in a new and upcoming game such as Kabaddi ( as Usports have done ) is a big risk. However, it is only with new and innovative ways that a company can make profit.
Esports in India ( 2016).
2016 has been a stepping stone for eSports in India. Despite several setbacks in the previous years, eSports is taking off in a big way. 2016 saw the entry of several companies in order to organise and garner interest in eSports.
The favorite titles of Dota2 and CSGO were the first game to start off as a Sports Company. These two titles are the favorite eSports in India. We already have several teams featuring these two games in India.
Local LAN cafeś have been organizing small tournaments all over the country. Local Gaming tournaments are not only limited to the big cities but the smaller Tier 2 cities have been increasingly holding and organizing tournaments in CSGO.
Flipkart announced their eSports month-long tournament in May 2016. Flipkartś interest in this segment came from a 0% growth that they have witnessed in the segment.
Our goal is to become the largest destination for both gamers as well as gaming product brands and also contribute towards developing the Indian gaming ecosystem. Brands like Alienware, Dell, Sony and Microsoft are already witnessing tremendous growth on our platform in their Gaming portfolio and we expect this demand to double in the next six months,
It was around the same time that ESL announced their ESL India Premiership. It was by far the biggest prize pool for an eSports league in India. With a prize pool of Rs 42 lakh ( ~ $62000), it was by far the biggest tournament in India. By comparison to other ESL global events, it was still a considerably small event. However for a nascent market such as India.
ESL mission is to increase the popularity of esports across the globe. We are excited to help building up the esports community in India with Nodwin. The country’s diverse communities, along with the fact that India embraces technology like no other place, makes it a perfect candidate. We are very excited to get started with theESL India Premiership, and I can’t wait to experience it live, as I’m sure the crowd will be fantastic. In the meantime, we will ensure that we can deliver a world-class experience – both online and offline – to the local and international fans, and hope this tournament series helps foster growth in the region.
Where did it all go wrong for eSports in India?
There have been several hiccups to esports in India. However one of the biggest and disastrous events for eSports in India was the Indian Gaming Carnival. The Indian Gaming Carnival was one of the most controversial and shameful event held in India. The tournament which was held in 2012 saw the organisers abruptly call of the event 2 days before the finals. They apparently even threatened International players indirectly.
Major eSports organizations such as Fnatic and Na´Vi had seen through the scam and had advised Moscow Five not to go through with their participation. It spoiled the name of eSports in India as a whole. This was a big setback for the esports scene in India.
So what is Ucypher?
Ucypher is seen as a eSports League that will be held under the parent company of Usports. With eSports being huge amongst the millennials in India, it has garnered interest amongst companies.
As an investor, investing in a segment which has a huge number of youngsters is always a lucrative segment. Young professionals and gamers from a lucrative target segment. With the gaming community being organized and growing every year, it is a community that can not be neglected.
Ronnie Screwvala is the pioneer in Usports. They have had eSports on their radar in the past. However several problems ranging from poor internet services to low-end hardware urged them to postpone their plans. With the advent of high speed internet services along with a general trend of gaming culture in India, this is the right time for eSports to take a boom in India. According to AFKGaming, the total amount payable for eSports events in India 2016 was Rs.INR 76,95,000 / USD 115,674.
The format of the league is yet to be established. At the moment, there is no further details about the league or any confirmation about the games that will be included under the banner. However according to sources, the games set to be included are FIFA, Dota2, CSGO.
The focus for the league will be on a TV audience. Esports on TV in the West is just taking off. With Eleague being at the forefront for 2017, eSports on television is already seeing a big push. Ucypher aims to bring India on par with the television audience for eSports.
