Tag: Global esports

  • Global Esports & Santanu Hazarika collab to design an exclusive Valorant Championship Tour jersey

    Global Esports & Santanu Hazarika collab to design an exclusive Valorant Championship Tour jersey

    Mumbai: Breaking barriers between art and gaming, a leader in South Asia’s gaming scene, Global Esports (GE) and established multidisciplinary artist Santanu Hazarika have come together to design a one-of-its-kind jersey for GE’s Valorant Championship Tour (VCT) roster. This exclusive limited-edition jersey drop is set to mark a digital renaissance in the dynamic Indian art and gaming landscapes.

    The collaboration between the esports organisation and the artist is an endeavour to break the norms and reinvent the idea of how an esports jersey should look. It showcases Santanu elevating the typical plain, functional ‘team uniform’ for GE’s VCT squad by adding a distinct style quotient to it. The new jersey design perfectly embodies the convergence of art and the esports revolution of India.

    Global Esports CEO and founder Rushindra Sinha mentioned, “Our jersey design has been based on our brand colours for the last decade. Generally, jerseys are looked at from the perspective of it being a uniform, and no one has really thought about disrupting it. However, we wanted to do something different. We wanted it to be a work of art while also looking at adding an element of fashion. That’s where Santanu stepped in to add his unique layer of art.”

    He further added, “What makes this collaboration even more exciting is that this is perhaps an opportune way to own an exclusive Santanu Hazarika artwork. I believe this adds an evolutionary value to our jerseys!”

    For designing the jersey, Santanu primarily drew inspiration from the ‘GE Lion’ depicted in Global Esports’ VCT Player Card. The ‘GE Lion’ has now been transformed into a visceral, sublime and surreal form of clothing piece in the three GE colours, reflecting the artist’s signature style. Furthermore, the jersey is representative of the team reinventing their gameplay as well as their ethos, vision and victory.

    Commenting on the collaboration, Santanu Hazarika said, “I have always been inspired by gaming as an artist since I was a child. And I am a gamer myself! I instantly connected with the GE team as we both have a common ground when it comes to pop culture and gaming. They enabled me to explore a whole new world of how big esports is, which helped me incorporate elements of gaming, fashion and art together for a jersey different from anything else the esports world has ever seen.”

    The specially created jersey is a testimony to GE’s commitment to pushing the envelope across diverse aspects of gaming and building an enduring esports legacy on the world stage. The limited edition jerseys are priced at Rs 1299/- and are available for purchase at https://gefighting.com/.

  • Riot Games to host ‘Convergence’

    Riot Games to host ‘Convergence’

    Mumbai: Riot Games has announced plans to host Convergence, its first ever international VALORANT esports tournament in India in partnership with The Esports Club (https://theesports.club/). The tournament is scheduled to take place between 14 to 17 December, 2023 at the Manpho Convention Center in Bangalore.

    Convergence represents Riot’s first international VALORANT esports event in India, showcasing its commitment to the growing gaming culture in the country. The tournament will bring together some of the top VALORANT teams from around the world, such as Global Esports, FUT, Furia, Vitality, and GenG, to compete on the same stage in India. The aforementioned teams play in Riot’s VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) in Asia, Europe and Americas, representing the pinnacle of professional VALORANT esports. They are set to compete against each other in the main event, commencing on 14 December.

    “Convergence is us at Riot saying thanks to our amazing fans in India, who have supported us since the launch of VALORANT in 2020. We have also since grown the India team to deliver such hyperlocal experiences to our players here. With Convergence, Indian fans will finally get to see some of their favorite VALORANT athletes perform in person and also interact with them off-stage. It will be a perfect ending to the 2023 VCT season and we are just getting started here in India for such international events.” said Riot Games esports lead India & South Asia Sukamal Pegu.

    “We are excited to partner with Riot Games to introduce their first ever international VALORANT tournament to the gaming community in India. This event will not only enhance the esports experiences in the country but also elevate India’s presence on the global gaming stage,” said The Esports Club founder & managing director Vamsi Krishna.

  • Global eSports, Isobar recreate World Cup finals for Afghan women’s cricket team

    Global eSports, Isobar recreate World Cup finals for Afghan women’s cricket team

    Mumbai: In November 2020, Afghanistan announced its official women’s cricket team – a first in its history. For a country ravaged by war and conservatism, this was a path-breaking achievement for the sport loved by billions in this part of the continent. However, by August 2021, a new regime had taken over that banned women in the country from playing sports, especially cricket. So, for the first time, an official women’s cricket team, ironically couldn’t play cricket.

    This unfair ban was covered and protested by the world’s media but with little change in reality. Thus, with an objective to pledge support and protest the injustice caused to the Afghan women’s cricket team, on 3 April – the day the ICC Women’s World Cup finals took place in New Zealand, Global eSports in partnership with Isobar India Group re-created the finals – one that could have happened.

    Titled ‘The Protest Match,’ this initiative is a first-of-a-kind in the history of esports and gaming in India. During the campaign, Global eSports painstakingly recreated the Afghanistan women’s cricket team virtually, replicating the exact team that was unfairly banned from playing in real. Once ready to take the field, the virtual team invited famous e-sport gamer and influencer, Monika Jeph – aka Sherlock, to play against them in a match, coinciding with the real World Cup finals that were taking place in faraway New Zealand. The finals that could have happened were livestreamed on several popular gaming channels, including YouTube, Loco and Twitch. Roya Samim, who was running to become the Afghanistan women’s team captain, came forward to vehemently support the campaign and shared an appeal video to get people to be a part of it.

    “The viewership, engagement and participation far exceeded the capacity of several cricket stadiums combined. Spreading the word through social media and the close-knit gaming community, those who were interested to play against the re-created Afghani Women’s team were directed to a microsite wherein they could book a preferred timeslot to play,” said the statement.

    “Gaming and esports have historically unified the world. We have seen players from different countries play together as teammates on almost every server,” said Global eSports founders Mohit Israney and Rushindra Sinha. “Even when we went to represent India in Singapore last month, we were hosted by a Gaming company in Singapore that was started by a Russian and all their tech was supported by a Ukrainian! That is why, when we saw what has happened to the Afghanistan Women’s team, we were more than happy to use gaming to build awareness of the cause and more importantly give them a chance to play the game they love. As Asia’s fastest-growing ‘player-first’ esports organisation, we felt that we owe it to players to stand by them. The virtual world is all about infinite possibilities. It is borderless and genderless. It is the perfect place to make the impossible happen, which I think we did with this campaign.”

    “We keep talking about how far we have progressed in creating a gender-neutral world but the fact remains that such imbalances are still very much our reality and part of our social fabric. And, as long as these biases exist, with them will co-exist our spirit to correct them,” stated Isobar India Group CEO Heeru Dingra. “The Isobar India group is not just about using technology or creating innovations but is about using technology and innovation to solve real human problems. It is truly an honour to be a part of this campaign.”

    “In the world of today, we are a vocal lot and we are all one. When we came across this issue, it moved us. It made us really think about how such a basic thing like the right to play cricket can have a deep emotional impact and reflect chasms in today’s society,” remarked Isobar India and Taproot Dentsu CCO Aalap Desai. “So, if the problem was new, we thought why shouldn’t our protest be new too? If the problem is getting surfaced through cricket, can we make the mere act of playing, the act of batting and bowling a sign of protest itself – an idea that the world has never seen before? Despite the team being banned, can they still play what they always dreamt of – the Women’s World Cup? And that’s how The Protest Play came about.”

    For the record, Isobar India Group that comprises the agencies – Isobar, WATConsult and Perfect Relations, is a part of dentsu Creative India that brings together some of India’s best capabilities across creative, digital and PR under one umbrella.

     

  • Ex-Fnatic India lead Nimish Raut joins NODWIN Gaming

    Ex-Fnatic India lead Nimish Raut joins NODWIN Gaming

    Mumbai: Esports company NODWIN Gaming has appointed Nimish Raut as the head of global esports partnerships and business development.

    In his role, Raut will oversee global partnerships, business development and media rights for all NODWIN properties across the world. He will be based out of Singapore and report to NODWIN Gaming, MD, Akshat Rathee, said the company.

    Raut comes in with over 15 years of experience in sports and esports experience with companies like Star Sports where he led strategy for new sports and was previously the head of sports marketing at Red Bull India. He kickstarted his esports passion at Redbull and then joined Riot Games (Southeast Asia) for League of Legends. Over the last few years, he has been actively involved in propelling the growth of esports in India as the India lead at Fnatic.

    “It’s exciting to have Nimish on board given his vast experience with key players in the industry,” said Akshat Rathee, welcoming Raut on board. “He has a high-spirited persona about him. I have known him for over a decade and he shares my passion for transforming esports and we have strong faith in his capabilities to build valuable partnerships for NODWIN.”
    Raut has already secured partnerships for NODWIN Gaming with brands such as Gillette, OnePlus, HP, Red Bull and looks to continue the great form, said the company.

    “I’m personally excited to be a part of a driving force that is NODWIN Gaming,” said Raut on his new role. “The value that NODWIN brings to the developing world esports market is massive and I’m in line with their vision and plan of action. I am very excited of joining forces with Akshat again and bringing substantial value to the esports ecosystem.”