Game streaming firm Rooter partners Nodwin Gaming for BGMI tournament

The tournament, which will run from June 21 to July 2, will enable upcoming esports players to pit themselves against pro esports teams

Gaming and esports content platform Rooter is partnering with Nodwin Gaming, an e-sports subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, to host a tournament featuring Krafton's popular Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) game title.

The tournament, which will run from June 21 to July 2, will enable upcoming esports players to pit themselves against pro esports teams, the company said in a statement.

Overall, the event will see 32 teams participating in the tournament. This includes 28 professional esports teams and four qualifying squads from across the country.

"We will closely track the journey of qualifying teams from this talent base and give them opportunities to build and monetise their fan base on the platform as well as become a part of future invitational championships," the company said in a statement in response to queries from Moneycontrol.

"Over the next 12 days, players will also be invited to host watch parties on the Rooter app and monetize that content through fan gifting" it added.

The tournament is also expected to bring over 100 hours of premium esports content to consumers across Rooter and YouTube, it said.

This development comes about a month after the BGMI game title was made available again in India on a three-month trial basis.

"BGMI’s recent unbanning has been welcomed by fans, players, and the gaming industry at large, who now eagerly await an esports season of exciting gameplays, close clashes and wins. We are confident that the BGMI Champions Cup will be a great springboard for upcoming players" Rooter co-founder Dipesh Agarwal said in a statement.

Prominent BGMI players such as Jonathan from Team GodLike, Sc0utOP from Team XSpark, Omega from SOUL Esports, Sensei from Revenant Esports, SPower from Blind Esports, Mavi from Global Esports, Akop from Orangutan Gaming are also expected to participate in the tournament and fight for a prize pool of Rs 27 lakh.

In May 2023, Rooter had raised $16 million in a mix of equity and debt financing led by existing investor Lightbox and participation from investors such as Trifecta Capital, Pivot Ventures, Baldota Family Office, Global Play Media, Denlow Private Trust, Venture Catalysts and Potential Ventures.

In the same month, Nodwin Gaming also bagged $28 million from investors such as Sony and Innopark along with existing backers such as Nazara Technologies, Krafton and JetSynthesys.