The partnership plans to focus on gamers and enthusiasts across the country, and is aimed towards fast-tracking the growth of esports.
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In one of a kind deal, Nodwin Gaming, India’s leading Esports tournament organisers and PVR cinema, who is known for giving the audience a great movie experience, have partnered to give the viewers an “In-Cinema Esports” live tournaments experience.
The partnership plans to focus on gamers and enthusiasts across the country, and is aimed towards fast-tracking the growth of esports. The main belief is that bigger screens are expected to be more appealing for the gamers and enthusiasts across the country. The plan for this partnership also includes Online Esports Cups and In-Cinema tournaments that will see separate prize pools for separate countries.
The inaugural events would include the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) tournament, and more games can be added as time progresses and more people get engaged. As the tournament progresses, the quarter-final, semi-final, and finals of the games will be screened in each participating city at a selected PVR Cinemas with live streams on digital platforms, including NODWIN Facebook page, NODWIN Youtube page and PVR mobile app.
“Esports as an upcoming medium of interactive entertainment has had its fair share of visibility in the jam-packed arenas but it’s about time that we bring action to the silver screen. NODWIN, along with building grassroots, will also give its audience a premium watching experience with this partnership”, said Akshat Rathee, MD & Co-Founder, NODWIN Gaming.
“Our immersive environment lends itself particularly well to the gaming community, putting players in the universes in which they are competing. We are excited to bring big games to the big screen in collaboration with NODWIN Gaming”, said Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR Limited.
Akshat Rathee, MD and co-founder, NODWIN Gaming, stated. “City-level penetration of professional esports leads to solid exposure for the grassroot ecosystem and as seen in the past, the more exposed the grassroots is, the better it gets at the higher tiers. This in turn paves the way for collective growth of all tiers of professional players. Our association with PVR Cinemas opens a corridor towards mainstreaming esports and placing it right in the middle of the entertainment industry. Esports as an upcoming medium of interactive entertainment has had its fair share of visibility in the jam-packed arenas but it’s about time that we bring action to the silver screen. NODWIN, along with building grassroots, will also give its audience a premium watching experience with this partnership,” he added.
“At PVR, we strive to continually evolve as an entertainment destination, offering our customers the opportunity to have an entertaining escape into more than just big films. Our immersive environment lends itself particularly well to the gaming community, putting players in the universes in which they are competing,” Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, joint managing director, PVR Limited, said.
The pandemic was one of the major reasons that Twitch, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming all reported significant increases with online viewing in 2020. Other platforms such as streaming TV saw its own surges, with reports now indicating that any gains the streaming TV niche saw during the pandemic is expected to be permanent in nature once people resume normality.
As the streaming TV category continues to grow to reach new, viewership, one can only believe and look forward to esports reaching many more platforms– both, ad-free and paid. There is clearly the demand, and streaming TV has the potential to take esports to a level it’s ever gone before. Having channels that are especially dedicated to esports and everything that surrounds it. Analysis could also be a major part of this new and coming niche.
As esports continues to establish itself as a major category in sports entertainment, it will have its own stars, analysts, and key tentpole moments. What esports can become in today’s streaming TV world is what traditional sports are on linear TV: a category’s worth of content dedicated toward everything from live events to key replays to industry insights, all projected at a national, local, and college level.
The increase in the popularity graph came during the pandemic, at a time when content consumption was extremely high and many viewers who were stuck at home wanted more and more forms of entertainment escapism. Since all activities around the globe came to a stand-still, so did sports, and with the lack of live sports, more and more streamers gained traction. It’s expected that the esports streaming and gaming industry will grow to $3.5 billion by the end of 2025. As esports continues to become more relevant, has streaming become more and more relevant?
