Tag: Dipesh Agarwal

8Bit Creatives partners with Rooter to elevate India’s gaming content landscape

Mumbai: 8Bit Creatives, India’s leading gaming influencer talent management agency has partnered with Rooter, the country’s largest gaming and esports content platform to bolster the nation’s gaming creator economy.

This collaboration will see 8Bit Creatives’ notable gaming influencers, PC gamers, and GTA roleplay creators, such as Tanmay Singh aka ScoutOp, Parv Singh aka Regaltos, Raj Varma aka Snax, Salman Ahmad aka 8Bit Mamba, Mithul Nayak aka 8Bit Binks stream and curate engaging content on the Rooter platform.

By merging the reach of 8Bit Creatives’ creators with Rooter’s distribution and ssolutions, the partnership aims to significantly enhance access to diverse and engaging gaming content for audiences across the country. At the same time, the partners will be developing multiple avenues for brands and advertisers to engage deeply with India’s passionate gaming community.

8Bit Creatives founder & CEO Animesh Agarwal aka 8Bit Thug expressed the significance of the partnership with Rooter for the Indian Esports industry. He stated, “Our collaboration with Rooter will act as a catalyst for the sustained growth of India’s gaming creator economy. We are excited to bring our gaming influencers and creators to a platform that shares our vision for excellence in gaming content as well as the prosperity of the community. Together, we aim to create an immersive and unparalleled gaming experience for millions of fans across the nation.”

Gaming is now the top entertainment choice and source of social connection for India’s young demographic, attracting both endemic and non-endemic brands eager to connect with this audience. Industry leaders like 8Bit Creatives and Rooter have been building multiple brand solutions on the back of engaging content experiences. Investing in strengthening them will also be a cornerstone of this collaboration.

Underlining the shared focus behind the partnership, Rooter co-founder and COO Dipesh Agarwal said “8Bit Creatives shares our strong drive to unlock massive growth opportunities for the Indian Gaming ecosystem and we are excited to collaborate with a partner like them. We’ve been facilitating multiple monetization opportunities for creators through partnerships with ~100 brands, fan donations, and more. With this collaboration, we will be working closely with the 8Bit Creatives team to elevate value creation for the creator community. We also aim to develop innovative marketing playbooks and solutions at the intersection of gaming, content, pop culture, and social media, which will establish new operating benchmarks for the ecosystem.”

According to Niko Partners’ ‘India Games Market’ report, India’s video game market is the fastest growing by gamers and revenue and the number of gamers across all platforms in India is forecast to reach 641.2 million in 2027, growing at a five-year CAGR of 10.1 per cent.

The association between 8Bit Creatives and Rooter promises to usher in a new era of high-quality content, engagement, and an overall enriched gaming experience for fans.

February 3, 2024
Nodwin Gaming and Star Sports announce BGMI season 2 with Rooter as the digital streaming partner

Mumbai: NODWIN Gaming, one of the world’s leading emerging market gaming and esports media company, in association with Star Sports, India’s leading sports broadcaster, has announced the highly anticipated return of India’s biggest esports tournament, BGMI Masters Series. Building upon its record-shattering success in season 1, the upcoming season 2 of the BGMI Masters Series which kicks off on August 4, will feature 24 teams, and offer one of the highest-ever prize pools of INR 2.1 crore (over USD 250K) for a non-publisher event.

Among the 24 teams, 14 esports outfits will be invited directly, while the remaining 10 spots are to be earned by the victors from the Open Qualifier where anyone in India can participate. The high-octane live broadcast of the BGMI Masters Series Season 2 will kick off at 9:30 pm on the Star Sports Network and Rooter.

The television broadcast of the inaugural season of the BGMI Masters Series (2022) was a tremendous success, garnering over 36 million viewers over the course of the tournament. In celebration of that success, BGMI Masters Series Season 2 will be broadcast on Star Sports in three different languages – Hindi, English, and Tamil. This initiative undertaken by NODWIN Gaming, and Star Sports aims to connect core esports with viewers from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds, making esports content more inclusive and appealing to a broader audience. Beyond the regular broadcast, Star Sports has also announced additional programming to provide viewers with a distinctive and enriching esports experience, setting the popular sports network as a key destination for BGMI enthusiasts.

Commenting on the new season of the BGMS Masters Series, NODWIN Gaming co-founder & managing editor, Akshat Rathee said, “Last year, we took a bold and historical leap of faith by airing the BGMI Masters Series on primetime television with our partners Star Sports. That leap turned out to be an incredible success, revolutionizing the esports ecosystem and transforming how esports is traditionally consumed in India. BGMS season 2 doubles down on our commitment to bringing the epitome of BGMI esports to the masses. We have a larger prize pool, larger participation base, and larger distribution with all our partners. We are sure that this year we will amaze you with the games, the production, and the passion only our community can bring. Remember to tune in with your family!”

Speaking about the upcoming season, Disney Star head – sports, Sanjog Gupta said, “Esports is a rapidly emerging category, fueled by the growing gaming culture in India and the global acknowledgement of its status as a sport. The first season of the BGMI Masters’ series, in partnership with NODWIN Gaming, was positioned as the pinnacle tournament for the game in India and demonstrated the potential of a world-class esports competition staged at an elevated scale. Over 36 million viewers tuned in for the first season on TV with more than 40% below the age of 21. Encouraged by the results, we believe that this endeavor – BGMI Masters – will excite the gaming community, drive wider acceptance for esports among non-gamers, and overall, engage a younger demographic on our platforms.”

The digital broadcast of the Masters Series 2022 followed suit with the television broadcasts’ record-breaking performance and surpassed the 100 million viewership milestone, setting a new record in the history of Indian esports. For the upcoming BGMI Masters Series Season 2, NODWIN Gaming has announced its partnership with India’s biggest gaming and esports content platform Rooter as the championship’s digital streaming partner. Rooter’s expertise in delivering sharply crafted streaming experiences and an extensive distribution ecosystem across Android, iOS, web, and connected TV, will contribute to NODWIN Gaming’s objective of setting the benchmark for esports audience experience within the ecosystem.

Speaking about the association, Rooter co-founder & COO, Dipesh Agarwal said, “NODWIN Gaming’s BGMI Masters Series has become the biggest and most loved esports IP in the country, and we are excited to be their exclusive digital streaming partner. From multi-platform distribution strength to sharp, tech-led content creation solutions, we’ve been pushing the boundaries of how Indians consume and engage with esports. For the tournament, we are geared to deliver the rich and immersive viewing experience that fans expect from us, even as we create more interactive avenues for them to root for their favorite teams. The much-awaited Master Series is also a great opportunity for brands to connect with the gaming community in a highly engaging setting. We are now actively working with multiple brands to help them reach out to the community through our media solutions like sponsorships, advertising campaigns, creator marketing, and more.”

NODWIN Gaming has also announced its partnership with Indian two-wheeler manufacturing giant TVS Motor Company as the mobility partner for the upcoming season of the BGMI Masters Series. Under the aegis of this collaboration, TVS Raider, the leading sporty commuter from TVS will exclusively be the mobility partner of the BGMI Masters Series Season 2.

The BGMI Masters Series Season 2 promises an even more intense showdown than its previous edition. Mass-favorite esports powerhouses from last year’s tournament have undergone significant roster changes, and with emerging underdog teams qualifying from the preceding qualifiers, an exciting David vs. Goliath narrative could be on the cards. Furthermore, the community might even witness an unexpected turn of events, heralding the arrival of a new BGMI powerhouse.

The newest season of the BGMI Masters Series is set up to be a magnificent celebration of gaming excellence, exhibiting exhilarating gameplay, and unforgettable esports moments delivered exclusively to the community by NODWIN Gaming, Star Sports, Rooter, and TVS.

NODWIN Gaming invites all to embark on this thrilling journey as the Indian esports community witnesses the rise of the next generation of BGMI Masters. This remarkable journey marks a significant paradigm shift within the Indian esports industry, unveiling many untapped opportunities for esports organizations to expand their regional dominance and for brands seeking fresh advertising avenues.

July 21, 2023
Rooter acquires media rights to Skyesports’ IPs for one year

Mumbai: In what is said to be one of the largest media rights deals in e-sports, homegrown game streaming platform Rooter has acquired the media rights for all of Skyesports’ IP for the next one year.

As one of the biggest e-sports tournament organisers in South Asia, Skyesports conducts competitions under its self-owned IPs. Going forward, all of Skyesports’ original competitions will be broadcast exclusively on Rooter. The tournaments will be streamed in several languages which include Hindi, English, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu.

Last year, Skyesports generated more than 200 million viewers across all its tournaments and achieved a peak concurrent viewership record of 221,000 during the Skyesports Championship 3.0 BGMI finals, said the statement.

In January, Rooter raised $25 million in its series A funding round led by Lightbox, March Gaming, and Duane Park Ventures. Last week, the company also teamed up with the dominant BGMI team, OR Esports, as its official broadcast partner.

“Skyesports is renowned for hosting some of the major esports tournaments in the country,” said Rooter co-founder and COO Dipesh Agarwal. “Teaming up with a platform redefining Indian e-sports, this comes as a landmark deal for both entities. Rooter is the fastest growing gaming platform in India and we will help Skyesports reach millions of fans who will get the best e-sports content exclusively on Rooter. We also look forward to working with Shiva and the rest of the team to provide multiple engagement opportunities for fans with e-sports teams on Rooter’s platform.”

“Our goal has always been to make Skyesports’ IPs, which have been homegrown in India, more accessible,” said Skyesports founder and CEO Shiva Nandy. “I am sure that our e-sports content will feel right at home on Rooter’s platform. Additionally, by distributing the media rights, we are empowering Rooter to implement strategies to further engage our already large audience. We look forward to closely working with them throughout the year to enhance the watching experience for the viewers while building e-sports from the grassroots level and launching more premium IPs.”

“With Skyesports, we envisioned the creation of a closely-knit e-sports ecosystem at the grassroots level. It’s a pleasure to have Rooter join us as a partner and we look forward to working together with them to be able to accelerate our growth in terms of viewership in India,” said JetSynthesys founder and CEO Rajan Navani.

Earlier this month, Skyesports unveiled its roadmap for 2022 with more than $530,000 in prize money up for grabs across several competitions.

March 7, 2022