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  • Esports Premier League season 2 postponed due to govt’s ban on Battlegrounds Mobile India application

    Esports Premier League season 2 postponed due to govt’s ban on Battlegrounds Mobile India application

    Mumbai: The broadcasting of Esports Premier League (ESPL) season 2, the country’s first ever franchise-based esports league, has been postponed on account of the ban imposed by the government to remove Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) gaming application from Google play store & Apple app store.

    In a press statement, ESPL said, “This year’s league has been engaging gamers from across the country in high-voltage action of the battle royale game, BGMI which carries a massive prize pool of Rs 1 crore. After a month-long of riveting actions, packed with rivalries, gripping moments and thrilling finishes, the top sixteen teams were franchised and they were set to fight in a grand LAN finale from 1-5 August 2022.”

    The government banned the Battlegrounds Mobile India gaming application on 28 July.

    Also Read | Battle royale: Why govt’s ban of BGMI spells bad news for gaming in India | Indian Television Dot Com

    ESPL added that the entities concerned will evaluate or pursue the matter in accordance with the directions issued by the government.

    “We are therefore constrained to put the ESPL Season 2, on hold, in light of the government’s directions and the prevailing circumstances. This is an unfortunate situation for all esports enthusiasts, and also a huge setback for India, at this stage of the tournament,” it also said.

    “However, upon closure of the matter favorably, we intend to renew the ESPL from the stage where we are leaving it now, which means that the selected finalist teams will be invited again to take the tournament forward for the Finals” it further added.

  • ESPL to continue association with Tiger Shroff for Esports league season 2

    ESPL to continue association with Tiger Shroff for Esports league season 2

    Mumbai: ESports Premier League (ESPL) on Monday announced to continue its association with actor Tiger Shroff as the face of franchise-based Esports league for the second consecutive year. 

    Along with the partnership extension, ESPL has also roped in Global smartphone brand TECNO Mobile as presenting sponsor and India’s leading streaming platform, LOCO as their exclusive digital broadcast partner for ESPL Season 2.

    Tiger’s association with ESPL season 2 is expected to further bolster the positioning of the league. In the last season, Tiger’s video of cheering esports athletes garnered more than a million views on YouTube.

    TECNO Mobile is promoting TECNO Pova 3 through ESPL which started on 15 June.

    Speaking on the association with Tiger Shroff, ESPL director Vishwalok Nath said, “Tiger Shroff played a key role in making ESPL a household name in its first season. His popularity and fan following among the youth and millennial audiences helped us to engage and influence gamers across the country. His star power also helped push Esports to the mainstream. We are delighted to extend our fruitful association with Tiger in the second season. I’m confident that Tiger’s strong connection with the audiences will help us greatly in achieving our aim of revolutionising the Indian esports ecosystem.”

    Shroff added, “I am glad to continue my partnership with India Today Gaming for ESPL Season 2. Esports has seen an explosive growth across the country. ESPL is a great platform for esports athletes to showcase their talent on the national stage. I am happy to be part of this undertaking to grow the esports industry while encouraging the esports players and the gaming community.”

    The second edition of ESPL kickstarted on 15 June as this year’s league has been engaging gamers from across the country in high-voltage action of the most popular battle royale game, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI).

  • ESPL ropes in Tiger Shroff as brand ambassador for its Esports league

    New Delhi: The Esports Players League (ESPL) has roped in Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff as the brand ambassador for its first-ever franchise-based Esports league – ESports Premier League. The inaugural edition of the league began on 16 June.

    The league is powered by Infinix Mobile as the presenting sponsor. While Esports has seen an exponential rise especially during the lockdown, it’s for the first time that an esports league has partnered with Bollywood to make it mainstream. The collaboration aims to nurture an ecosystem that Esports in India like never before. The league will leverage the actor’s popularity and strong influence on the dynamic millennials and Gen-Z. 

    Sharing his excitement Tiger Shroff said, “I am really excited to collaborate with ESports Premier League. This opens a tremendous opportunity to recognize the growing talent in Esports in India. As the world’s first franchise-based model in Esports, ESPL will surely help in putting India first on the global map. Esports fans and gamers are shaping the future of entertainment and sports. And I’m glad to represent this force of the future.”

    The registrations for the league have already commenced and the preliminary rounds will engage in a highly competitive contest as eight teams will be chosen in the third round who will go on to contest in the grand finale.

    ESPL director, Vishwalok Nath said: “One of the major goals for ESPL has been to reach out to every millennial and gamer in the country andour purpose of having Tiger Shroff onboard has been to create a much deeper connect and grow the gaming community. We hope this association will also further our initiative to intensify the mission of taking Esports to the next level in India.”

    Hyderabad team has been bought by Chequered Flag Sports—a consortium between Sirish Kumar, Prasad Mangipudi, and Aashwij Ravula—and the team has been named as Hyderabad Hydras. Hyderabad is the first city that will witness the proud owners in the inaugural edition of ESPL. There will be more teams representing cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and states like Punjab, and Rajasthan in the upcoming league, A tie-up with Garena to create an exclusive gaming platform for their most popular battle royale game Free Fire in India.

    The matches will be streamed on OTT giant Disney+ Hotstar alongside official YouTube and Facebook channels of India Today and Aaj Tak and its websites. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Season one will be held virtually over two and a half months. It will also feature a prize pool worth Rs. 25 lakhs where the winner takes home a sum of Rs. 12 lakhs while second and third-placed teams will take home Rs. 6 lakhs and Rs. 3 lakhs, 

  • Infinix Mobile signs up as the title sponsor for ESPL

    Mumbai: Esports Premier League (ESPL) has partnered with smartphone maker Infinix Mobile as title sponsor for its inaugural edition and is seeking to mainstream the excitement surrounding the 2021 edition and revolutionise the ecosystem of esports in the country through the nationwide tournament. 

    The tournament organized by the India Today Group aims to tap into the growing landscape of esports in the country to help the competitive gaming community. This segment has received a significant boost in the last year as an increasing number of users are spending time on smartphones for gaming activities. 

    The first season of the league will begin on 16 June, and it will be telecasted live on multiple platforms including OTT giant Disney+ Hotstar as well as the official YouTube and Facebook channels of India Today and Aaj Tak, along with their websites. ESPL will be played as a virtual tournament in its inaugural edition and comprise more than 700 online matches with about 300 plus hours of streaming.

    “India Today’s gaming and esports platform will provide a thrilling experience to its users through a wide range of games, online tournaments, and an opportunity to win exciting prizes. These are very exciting times as smartphone usage continues to grow exponentially and I believe the partnership with Infinix Mobile will help us intensify our mission of taking esports to the next level in India,” said India Today Group vice-chairperson Kallie Purie. 

    Infinix Mobile chief executive officer Anish Kapoor said, “The Indian online gaming industry is growing at a rate of almost 27 per cent per annum and is estimated to reach $2.8bn by 2022. The current pandemic situation has further fuelled the growth of the gaming industry in India. At Infinix, we are part of this revolution by making devices for the mid-range segments that is feature-rich and enhances the user gaming experience, to further amplify the gaming capability of a user our research and development (segment) has developed a technology called Darlink which optimizes and improves a device’s performance on several parameters. Our partnership with India Today for the Esports Premier League is just another step towards achieving the same goal.” 

    The tournament, which will be played over a period of two and a half months, will have two initial levels to screen the best eight teams which progress into the grand finale representing eight cities across the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Punjab, and Rajasthan.