NODWIN Gaming and Nazara, subsidiary of Nazara Technologies has declared the launch of its third flagship e-sports tournament, ESL India Premiership 2018. The tournament began earlier this month and promises esports action throughout the year with a prize of Rs.1 crore ($155,000) daily live streaming on Facebook and YouTube.
NODWIN and ESL together aim to develop the esports ecosystem to enable competitive online & offline gaming, create localised leagues and cups to give massive boost to creation of world class esports athletes and players emerging from the India.
NODWIN founder and CEO Akshat Rathee said, “Since the very beginning, The ESL India Premiership has emphasised on the three facets of quality, legitimacy and excellence. The championship provides an all-round experience for both gamers as well as the viewers. We also believe that 15 per cent of the participants in the ESL India Premiership 2018 will come from other countries. With a prize pool of 1 Crore (Rs. 10 million)this year, we aim to provide a platform for our top teams to compete globally and we aim to break new records and locate newer outfits and talents from India.”
ESL hosts competitions around the globe to facilitate thousands of gaming competitions annually. Some of their notable competitions include ESL Play, ESL Pro League, ESL National Championship, and Intel Extreme Masters, the world’s longest-running global esports event series.
“We are incredibly proud to help foster the Indian esport community. Esport is the sport of the digital generation. We believe the ESL Indian championship is the stage to find the best athletes in India and a stepping stone for the global competitions,” the elated ESL CEO Ralf Reichert mentioned.
OMEN resumes its journey as title sponsors of this tournament for the second consecutive year. Also joining the journey, for the third consecutive year is the gaming peripheral manufacturer, HyperX and the energy drink brand, Red Bull. ESL India Premiership 2018 also welcomes on board the global processor, Intel.
Commenting on the partnership, HP country marketing director Neelima Burra said, “Esports is becoming popular among millennials who love gaming and our association with ESL has helped make OMEN by HP one of the top gaming brands in India. We are excited to take this partnership to the next level and we believe our recent launch of the OMEN X gaming range will provide gamers with an experience like never before. We intend to continue to bring key innovations to performance, design and customisability to give gamers a competitive edge.”
The OMEN ESL India Premiership 2018 will include year-long tournaments for the games of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2 and Clash Royale. Inspired by its predecessors, ESL is continuing with the third season, open league format though there are a couple of minor changes to this structure. The Master League will now host 12 participants instead of the original eight. Similarly, the Challenger Cup will follow a double elimination format and finally, the Starter Cup will be limited to 128 participants, chosen on a first-cum-first-serve basis.
“We are extremely glad to partner with ESL India Premiership for the third consecutive year since its inception. This association has helped us redefine professional gaming as a sport in India and we are happy to continue supporting the tournament with the HyperX peripherals. This, we believe, would give the pro gamers a right setup to play at their full potential. With our aim to build a healthy gaming ecosystem, we look forward to a successful and competitive tournament,” quoted HyperX India marketing director Vishal Parekh.
OMEN ESL aims to provide bigger and better experience to develop the Indian esports scene and provide gamers with an exciting year-long tournament with a massive prize and a challenging format.
