However we kickoff 2018, with something new, a new concept, a new platform and hopefully loads of new members coming into the esports family. Earlier this year, we broke the news of Ronnie Screwvala’s U Sports getting into esports and creating a new product.
The product was soon revealed to be a televised league for esports called U Cypher and then across the year there were some small teasers and reveals. While no official dates have been announced, the word around the town is that U Cypher will be premiering sometime early in 2018. It will not be a live show and has been pre-shot, recorded and packaged for a much wider television audience.
This is not the first time there has been an attempt to get esports on national television and older members of the community will remember a show called ‘Games Bond’ which was hosted over 10 years ago. While it had limited success and was never renewed for more than one season, the esports ecosystem is vastly different now than it was earlier. Not only is the awareness about esports much higher now, it has become a legitimate global phenomenon that is absorbed by millions.
U Cypher will follow a league system with 6 teams and 6 captains roped in for the first season. Each episode will feature clashes between teams across titles like Dota 2 and CS: GO on PC, Real Cricket on mobile and Tekken 7 on PS4. The prize pool for Season 1 of U Cypher is a whopping INR 51 lakhs. The team names and captains have already been revealed and are as follows:
| Team Name | Captain |
| Akramaks | Akshay ‘Kappa’ Sinkar |
| Sherdils | Ritesh ‘Ritz’ Shah |
| Crusaders | Atul ‘Remstar’ Singh |
| Yodhas | Pranay ‘Wuzz’ Bhatia |
| Yakshas | Vivek ‘Acrid’ Gore |
| Marksmen | Ankit ‘Venom’ Panth |
Stay tuned for more exclusive content about U Cypher on AFK Gaming as we help you stay up to date with all the happenings from Season 1.