Riding on the success of the debut edition, the stage was set for the grand finale of the second edition of Mountain Dew’s Dew Arena. The hugely successful Dew Arena culminated on 1 October 2017, after an exciting six-month pan-India journey through 300 locations and 125 cities.
Twenty-four finalists from across India battled it out at the grand finale at New Delhi’s Hotel Andaz by Hyatt to ultimately be crowned as the top 12 winners. This event saw the presence of six prominent names in the global gaming scenario – gaming commentator and CEO of international eSports organisation Hector Rosario, FlipSide Tactics CMO Dana Kawar, ESL MD Niels Wolter, among the best Counter Strike 1.6 players in the world Yegor Markelov, celebrated international Street Fighter player Antwan Ortiz and one of the highest ranking players for International Rocket League Gamer globally, David Lawrie.
The six gaming icons lent their expertise as analysts at the grand finale. At an exclusive meet and greet, they also gave budding enthusiasts tips to hone their gaming skills.
The second year of the Dew Arena saw unprecedented participation from gaming enthusiasts, with over 3,50,000 people participating across India. In a bid to take the experience of gaming to the masses, Mountain Dew’s disruptive gaming trucks featured popular games such as Street Fighter V and Rocket League. Games like Counterstrike and DOTA were also available on PC.
Animation Xpress too participated in the Dew Arena conducted in Mumbai last month and experienced the Mountain Dew gaming trucks featuring Street Fighter and Rocket League. Coupled with that was the amazing opportunity to experience VR through the VR headgear that took its users on a virtual ride across the serene Alps mountain ranges.
The 2017 edition of Dew Arena received phenomenal digital participation and reached out to over 24 million online users. The finale saw the leading teams vie for a prize pool of Rs. 2 million and the chance to have their profile featured on a set of limited edition Mountain Dew PET bottles.
The grand finale was preceded by a semifinal match in New Delhi on 29 September 2017. As a first for a live telecast of eSports, the gaming championship was broadcast live on DSport – the premium sports channel from the Discovery Group and the Facebook and YouTube pages of Mountain Dew India and ESL.
Speaking at the event, Mountain Dew PepsiCo India associate director Naseeb Puri said, “The second edition of Dew Arena saw tremendous positive feedback from consumers across the country. We are extremely proud to bring the stalwarts of the gaming ecosystem together on one platform to celebrate India’s largest gaming championship. As a brand, Mountain Dew has always encouraged youth to break out of the ordinary to make a name for themselves and Dew Arena is the perfect platform for this.”
Echoing her thoughts was ESL India MD Akshat Rathee who said, “ESL India is delighted to partner with Mountain Dew for the second year in a row. The Dew Arena is the country’s largest gaming platform and was developed to encourage and celebrate the gaming community. In a short span of two years, we have established the Dew Arena as a leading authority of eSports in India. ESL India and Mountain Dew have taken gaming to the masses and we are looking forward to an exhilarating finish to an action packed second edition.”
