The globally famed ESL in association with India’s Nodwin Gaming is set to present India’s first annual tournament series, the ESL India Premiership. The event will host six online cups and three mega LAN events throughout the year, with a prize pool of over $64,000, which translates to more than Rs 4.2 million in cash prizes.
The ESL India Premiership is the largest tournament series organised not just in India, but in the entire South Asian region, till date. The tournament series will present gamers an opportunity to participate as a team or an individual in online cups and win cash prizes, whilst qualifying for LAN events classified as “Challengers” and “Masters” that will be organised on a world class level. At each of the two Challengers, a total prize pool of over Rs 1.7 million will be up for grabs, with the year-ending Masters finale paying out close to Rs 2 million to the champions alone.
“ESL mission is to increase the popularity of eSports across the globe. We are excited to help building up the eSports community in India with Nodwin. The country’s diverse communities, along with the fact that India embraces technology like no other place, makes it a perfect candidate,” said ESL, Managing Director, Ralf Reichert. “We are very excited to get started with the ESL India Premiership, and I personally can’t wait to experience it live, as I’m sure the crowd will be fantastic. In the meantime, we will ensure that we can deliver a world-class experience: both online and offline, to the local and international fans, and hope this tournament series helps foster growth in the region.”
Nodwin Gaming, Director and CEO, Akshat Rathee said, “eSports athletes are treated as celebrities worldwide and they earn millions of dollars every year by opting to embrace electronic sports as a career. This is unfortunately not yet the case in India. But we hope to change this. The ESL India Premiership is the next big eSports revolution in our country. We feel proud to state that our continuous efforts for the last three years have led to the establishment of such a fruitful brand for our community and for our country, and it’s only just getting started. Join us and play your way up to the top of the ESL India Premiership. Meet the stars and young talents. Action and excitement are guaranteed, it’s the biggest showdown in India to date.”
The ESL India Premiership will feature three of the top eSports titles worldwide: Dota 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone and Just Dance (which is based on real time dancing). The online cups are set to start on 16 May, while the Challengers are scheduled for the month of July and November and the Masters in December. In addition to active participation, ESL has partnered with Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, so that fans can enjoy the ESL India Premiership actions live every day from 7 to 10 pm IST on the Twitch Premiership Channel.
