How a 23-year-old gamer bagged Chief Gaming Officer role with a Rs 10 lakh package

The CGO's role is exclusively focused on enriching the gaming experience for iQOO smartphone users.

Dispelling his parents "old beliefs" of never turning gaming into a career, 23-year-old Shwetank Pandey bagged a CXO role and a Rs 10 lakh salary package at consumer electronics company iQOO.

Kanpur-based Pandey came to know about the Chief Gaming Officer (CGO) opportunity, a six-month contractual job, through social media via friends, which involved a rigorous selection process that spanned gameplay, gaming knowledge, personality, and communication skills. About 60,000 Gen Z gamers from across more than 500 Indian cities participated in it.

"My parents were surprised that something they used to scold me for would one day make me India's first CGO. Before this, my parents had old-fashioned beliefs and didn't think I could ever turn gaming into a career, so they were doubtful at the beginning. But now, seeing where I am and what I've achieved, they're happy for me," Pandey told Moneycontrol.

An MBA dropout who served as an anchor for events for some time, Pandey started his first job at US Information Technologies (USIT) working on night shifts as a human resources (HR) executive recruiting candidates for tech giants including Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

However, Pandey said he has been a hardcore gaming enthusiast for the most part of his adulthood, but the limited scope pulled him back to think of it as a career option.

iQOO's Chief Gaming Officer Shwetank Pandey with his family

"Recently, the landscape has evolved dramatically with the introduction of BGMI or Battlegrounds Mobile India, and the subsequent surge in tournaments, accompanied by monetary rewards," he said. His involvement in these tournaments allowed him to earn an income.

The moment he heard about the ‘iQOO CGO hunt’, he didn't hesitate to pursue a sustainable career within the realm of e-sports.

The Gen Z connection

The CGO was selected through multiple elimination stages. The first was the basic form that the mobile company created to understand the perspective and seriousness of the applicants towards e-sports. The panel asked the contestants to stream their gameplay and judged them based on their scorecards.

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Next came the gaming round to test their skills. This was followed by a group discussion to test their personalities. Finally, the top 10 finalists were judged by a jury ― actor Rannvijay Singha; gamer/YouTuber Mythpat; and CEO Nipun Marya. In a nutshell, all these stages were designed to check the participants not only from the standpoint of their gaming skills but also to judge their personality and seriousness.

"The main objective of CGO was to have a direct connection with Gen Z, which will also help us co-create products with our younger generation. The CGO would be the voice of young gamers who understand and have knowledge of the gaming ecosystem," Marya said.

In addition to the CGO role, iQOO has also appointed two zonal CGOs ― Delhi-based Aojesh Shrivastava and Hyderabad-based Battu Nikhil Reddy. They will be working directly with Pandey to align strategies. They will earn a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh each for six months.

CGO is no ordinary CXO

The CGO's role is exclusively focused on enriching the gaming experience for iQOO smartphone users. Unlike other CXO roles, which centre on broader strategies, Pandey’s role is tailored to deliver a "seamless and immersive" gaming environment on iQOO phones.

He will collaborate with iQOO's leadership to enhance gaming performance on upcoming phones, improving gameplay and overall satisfaction. Beyond technical aspects, he will be engaging with the gaming community to represent iQOO and establish connections.

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On appointing a Gen Z as CXO, an unusual feat, Marya said the landscape of traditional CXOs is predominantly composed of individuals from the millennial and older generations, and hence the CGO represents a new era that bridges the gap between generations and brings a unique perspective to the table.

"The inception of the CGO concept marked the initial step in a journey…We are actively considering avenues to provide similar opportunities, including those that go beyond gaming," he added.