Gaming

Jetsynthesys & Animeta partner for e-sports mega-event – GEPL

Published

2 years ago

December 18, 2023

Mumbai: JetSynthesys’ first edition of the Global e-Cricket Premier League (GEPL), world’s largest team-based cricket e-sports and entertainment league, unfolded on Real Cricket 24 (RC 24), the leading mobile cricket simulation game (co-owned by the same company). To market this exciting property whose primary audience is Gen Z, Jet Synthesys partnered with Animeta, an innovative AI-powered creator tech company, to bring onboard creators and artists.

The main task at hand, to start with, was to create awareness and acceptance for the concept of e-Cricket, and then use that buzz to drive tune-ins to Jio Cinema, the exclusive streaming partner for GEPL. Given the huge popularity that cricket as a sport already has, the idea was also to diversify the audience profile beyond regular gaming and e-sports enthusiasts (120 M+ active users), and take it to viewers of cricket content on mobile (260 M+), with a significant proportion of GenZ audience.

JetSynthesys (the force behind GEPL) founder & CEO Rajan Navani shared his perspective, “Cricket came to us from the West but today, I’m proud to say that our Made-in-India Real Cricket™ and GEPL have set the stage for India exporting cricket esports to the world. Animeta helped us onboard the right influencers and employ the correct influencer strategy to maximize the impact of these creators.”

Commenting on the collaboration, GEPL CEO Rohit Potphode said, “GEPL stands as the largest eCricket league globally. In order to appropriately match its immense scale, we collaborated with Animeta- Brandstar, a specialized influencer marketing platform. This partnership allowed us to enlist renowned influencers spanning cricket, gaming, and entertainment domains, ensuring a broad reach across diverse audience demographics.”

The collaboration kicked off with the onboarding of 8 established mobile gamers, who were called the ‘Game Galvanizers’. Each was assigned a team to cheer for, as they seeded awareness about RC 24 and GEPL, driving excitement across their communities. The famous comedic creator-duo Funcho (Shyam and Dhruv) were onboarded as the ‘Series Galvanizers’, leveraging the star-power of these Gen-Z focused, culture moving, and cricket loving creators to attract a diverse young audience set to check out GEPL.

Animeta CEO Devdatta Potnis said “When you are trying to tap into a Gen Z audience, influencer marketing becomes an extremely important avenue, as social media is where this audience frequents daily. The approach was to tap into some key aspects across the whole spectrum of content habits that this audience has.”

To enhance the entertainment experience, Animeta brought on board four prominent rappers—ACE, Nasty Ninja, Yedha Anna, and 99 Side-to create the anthem ‘Find Your Glory’ for GEPL Season 1. Eight dynamic female influencers showcased the game’s broad appeal across genders, further diversifying GEPL’s target audience cohorts.

Animeta Sr VP of branded content and creator projects Biswamitra Ray stated “Selection of credible and relevant voices and high-relatability in the content is key to a campaign’s success. Whether it was for the social media posts made by the creators or the song composed specially for GEPL – we looked deeply into universal insights about the audience, whose attention we were trying to grab.”

The event featured a performance by the renowned EPR aka Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer, a rock and hip-hop rapper, and brought various creators and gamers on stage. Popular gaming creator Shreeman Legend hosted a fan meet attended by approximately 1000 fans, delighting the audience and creating lasting memories.

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Gaming

Checkmate Goes Digital as Chess Joins Esports Nations Cup 2026

From boards to bytes, chess readies for a nation-first showdown in Riyadh.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When pawns meet power plays, the game changes. Chess, the world’s oldest mind sport, is officially stepping deeper into the digital arena after the Esports World Cup Foundation confirmed it as one of 16 titles at the inaugural Esports Nations Cup 2026, set to unfold in Riyadh from 2 to 29 November.

For a game synonymous with quiet halls and ticking clocks, this is a bold move. Chess at ENC 2026 promises scale, spectacle and serious competition, fielding an unprecedented 128 players and opening the board to fresh talent and underrepresented nations as the sport’s esports evolution gathers pace.

The chess competition will run from November 2 to November 8, culminating in a playoff final. The opening phase features 128 players split into 16 round-robin groups of eight, with the top four from each group advancing.

That leaves 64 players battling it out in a single-elimination playoff bracket. Early rounds will be best-of-two, while the quarterfinals onward step up to best-of-four encounters. Deadlocks will be settled via Armageddon tie-breakers, and all matches will be played in a Rapid 10+0 format, designed for speed, tension and drama.

National pride is front and centre. Of the 128 slots, 64 players will receive direct invitations based on Champions Chess Tour rankings, limited to one per nation. Another 56 players will qualify through regional online qualifiers, while eight wildcard spots round out the field.

Qualifiers will be hosted by Chess.com across seven regions, including Middle East + India + Central Asia, with two qualifier windows in June 2026. Each country can field a maximum of two players, ensuring both depth and diversity across the draw.

Chess already tasted esports stardom at the 2025 Esports World Cup, where 20 nations were represented and the intensity surprised even purists. The event ended with Magnus Carlsen lifting the title for Team Liquid, sealing chess’s credentials as a natural fit for high-stakes digital competition.

India’s top-ranked player Arjun Erigaisi called the experience “unlike any chess tournament I’ve played before”, adding that the energy of the esports stage is drawing new audiences into the game.

For commentators and fans alike, the shift to a nation-based format raises the stakes. Chessbase India co-founder Sagar Shah likened the moment to the excitement of the Chess Olympiad, while grandmaster and broadcaster Tania Sachdev said the national format adds “pride, pressure and passion” that pulls viewers in deeper.

From silent calculation to roaring crowds, chess at the Esports Nations Cup 2026 is less about moving pieces and more about moving perceptions. Checkmate, it seems, has gone fully digital.

Gaming

Road to EWC unites 230 tournaments worldwide ahead of Esports World Cup 2026

Published

4 weeks ago

February 5, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

RIYADH: The Esports World Cup Foundation has launched Road to EWC, a worldwide qualification programme for the Esports World Cup 2026, stitching together more than 230 tournaments across major esports regions into a single global competitive season.

Running from grassroots qualifiers to elite international leagues, the initiative creates a unified pathway for players and clubs to reach the Esports World Cup finals in Riyadh from 6 July to 23 August, 2026. The season integrates publisher-led ecosystems and major circuits into one calendar, offering year-round visibility for fans and structured progression for competitors.

“Road to EWC brings together the journeys that shape competitive esports,” said Esports World Cup Foundation chief product officer Faisal Bin Homran. “It gives players, clubs, publishers and fans a defined season to plan around, building a sustainable and global competitive ecosystem.”

The qualification network spans leading events including the Apex Legends Global Series, Capcom Cup, Chess.com Global Championship, EVO, Free Fire World Series, EA Sports FC Pro, Pubg Global Series, Rocket League Championship Series, Overwatch Champions Series, Tekken World Tour Finals, and official circuits for Call of Duty, League of Legends, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, Trackmania and Valorant.

Open online qualifiers will also run for titles such as Dota 2, Teamfight Tactics, Call of Duty: Warzone and Chess, widening access for emerging talent.

In 2025, more than 2,500 players from over 100 countries qualified through the Road to EWC programme. Highlights included 15-year-old Free Fire player Rasyah Rasyid becoming the youngest champion in event history, EA FC star Manuel Bachoore claiming gold, and Street Fighter icon Zeng “Xiao Hai” Zhuojun securing another major title. Team Falcons captured their second club championship following a dramatic Overwatch 2 victory.

A dedicated Road to EWC hub will track qualification events, schedules and viewing options throughout the season. Ticket sales for the Esports World Cup 2026 are now live, with international partners across the US, Europe, Middle East, India and China.

The Esports World Cup returns to Riyadh next summer, bringing together the world’s top clubs across multiple game titles to compete for the largest prize pool in esports history.

Gaming

Nintendo shares slide 10 per cent despite profit jump, hit by chip shortages

Published

1 month ago

February 4, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

KYOTO: Nintendo shares slid more than 10 per cent on Wednesday, a day after the gaming giant missed market forecasts for quarterly revenue and warned of mounting pressure from a global memory chip shortage, as per media reports.

The company beat profit expectations, posting a 24 per cent year-on-year rise, driven by strong sales of the Nintendo Switch franchise. Revenue surged 86 per cent, with the original Switch now the firm’s best-selling console since its launch in 2017.

Yet rising component costs are weighing on investor sentiment. Nintendo relies heavily on dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a segment grappling with acute shortages as artificial intelligence and data centre demand soak up supply.

Ortus Advisors head of Japanese equity strategy Andrew Jackson, said markets remain uneasy about the impact of higher memory prices on Nintendo’s margins.

President Shuntaro Furukawa acknowledged that while soaring memory costs have not yet dented results for the current financial year, prolonged price pressures could squeeze profitability.

TrendForce estimates that contract prices for conventional Dram chips in the first quarter could jump between 90 and 95 per cent from the previous quarter. A senior semiconductor industry executive recently told CNBC the shortage may last until 2027.

Kantan Games chief executive of consultancy Serkan Toto, said sustained cost inflation could force Nintendo to raise console prices: a risky move for its largely casual user base.

The company’s newest device, Switch 2, launched in June last year and already dominates its console sales mix. But analysts warn that momentum in the first year is critical for any new platform.

Concerns persist over whether Switch 2 can match the runaway success of its predecessor, despite Nintendo holding firm on its full-year sales forecast.

The outlook hinges on upcoming blockbuster releases, including Mario Tennis Fever in February and Pokémon Pokopia in March. Nintendo is also banking on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, due in April, to replicate the sales boost sparked by its 2023 hit film.

Omdia senior analyst James McWhirter, said 2026 would be a “make-or-break” year as Nintendo seeks broader mass-market appeal for Switch 2.

Nintendo shares are down more than 15 per cent so far this year.