Game on: BGMI tournaments are back; prize pool to get bigger after trial period

Local area network (LAN) events are when gamers come together on the ground to compete.

E-sports and livestreaming platform Loco, which had partnered with Skyesports for SCS, said that its upcoming events include various BGMI tournaments, scrims and watch parties in the coming months. Scrims refers to practice games between two teams.

"Our upcoming Upthrust Esports ‘Challengers Showdown’ will take place from June 20 to July 2. This event will feature a prize pool of Rs 10 lakh. With BGMI's comeback, we can look forward to a rise in leagues and tournaments along with increase in user engagement, esports viewership," said Ashwin Suresh, founder, Loco.

He added that last year, the platform had witnessed a record-breaking 100 million views during the BGMI Master Series 2022 (June 24 to July 10) with over 258,000 concurrent live views (refers to viewers watching a stream each second) for a single esports broadcast. "This was a popular event and we are expecting to touch similar benchmarks with its (BGMI) return," he said.

"BGMI was a part of the first seasons of the Penta Amateur League (March 2022) and Penta Collegiate League (June 2022) and we had a BGMI invitational too. We look forward to having BGMI in season 2 of our leagues. We are also looking forward to having BGMI in our tournament IPs, Penta Invitational and Penta Challenge," said Kiran Noojibail, co-founder and head of e-sports at Penta Esports.

BGMI itself was banned in India on July 28 last year.

The Esports Club, is also preparing its BGMI line-up. "We're collaborating with our partners to organise a series of e-sports tournaments on BGMI. These initiatives will provide a platform not only for professional teams but also for amateur and aspiring gamers. We have several tournaments in the pipeline," said Ishaan Arya, company's co-founder and head of business development.

The return of BGMI and the upcoming tournaments are also boosting player confidence. "The revival of BGMI creates new opportunities through prize money, streaming revenue, brand partnerships and endorsements," said Akshat Goel, aka SOUL AkshaT, from Team SOUL, one of the top BGMI teams.

BGMI players receive salaries from e-sports firms they sign up with and also earn via the prize pool. In addition, the gamers also make money through streaming and brand sponsorship deals that are split between the esports firm and the player. It is estimated that there are 30-32 BGMI teams in India out of which 16 are considered in the Tier I category. Players in this category get Rs 1-1.5 lakh a month as salary.

The BGMI ban led to this revenue stream drying up. "In addition to the financial impact, the ban on BGMI caused many esports athletes to miss out on the opportunity to compete on an international level. Now as BGMI tournaments are being organised, it will provide more opportunities for me and other athletes to compete and potentially earn a living through e-sports," said Robin Singh Shekhawat, captain of the Gods Reign BGMI team.

Prize pool to get bigger

The esports industry expects the prize pool to swell and see more sponsors come on board after the three-month trial period.

"The presence of numerous tournaments already lined up indicates the growing interest and investment in the game. The assurance that BGMI is here to stay will help to engage in more investment and partnerships. Prize money of BGMI tournaments can go up from Rs 10 lakh, Rs 25 lakh to crores once the game clears the three-month trial period in the country," said Lokesh Suji, director, Esports Federation of India and vice president of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF).

He said that BGMI enjoys the stature of cricket in e-sports when it comes to player base, viewership and brand sponsorships.

"We have organized numerous tournaments for BGMI in the past, featuring substantial prize pools and we will continue with the same momentum this year also," said Sohn.

BGMI was the first game to air on television and it had recorded 200 million viewers. The game, which was launched in India in 2021, registered over 100 million users in a year's time. Nearly half of all mobile gamers from India had played BGMI 12 months prior to the game's ban, according to 2022 report by Niko Partners. BGMI is also estimated to have recorded about $33 million in in-app spending from July 2021 to July 2022, according to intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

Brands and sponsors

Krafton had recently announced a collaborative event with automobile manufacturer Bugatti that started on June 20 and will go on till August 6.

Eyewear brand Lenskart that is one of the sponsors of the BGMI tournament by Rooter and Nodwin, for the first time has backed a gaming event.

BGMI brings in considerably higher viewership than other esports titles, said Noojibail of Penta Esports. "Now that it is back, at least for now, we expect to see more brands, including the non-endemic (brands that are not directly linked to gaming or e-sports) ones to explore opportunities in this space," he added.

The recently concluded SCS had sponsors including Tecno, AMD, Zebronics and Flipkart. "With the audience that BGMI commands, onboarding brands is certainly easier and this was a challenge when the game was banned in India. We are seeing an upward trend in terms of brand partnership especially after the viewership numbers that the tournament (SCS) recorded and see many brands want to tap into BGMI," said Skyesports' Nandy.