Cover-Credits:
AFK Gaming
Entity Gaming was one of the most prominent esports organizations in India, but it exited from the scene in December 2021 leaving fans wondering about what went wrong. In an episode of AFK Gaming's Men of Culture podcast, co-owners Varun Bhavnani and Neerav Rukhana shed some light on the matter. During the discussion, Varun revealed the reason behind Entity Gaming's hiatus and expresses his thoughts on the current state of the industry. With the ban on PUBG Mobile still affecting the esports community, Varun blames players for not contributing enough to building a stronger foundation.
Varun also observed that the competitive spirit in India seemed to be dying, with the focus shifting to drama and entertainment rather than tournaments and competition. He called for the community to come together and support local organizations to prevent the weakness of the system from repelling future brands and international teams from entering the Indian market.
Varun believes the competitive spirit of Indian esports died after PUBG Mobile’s ban
Varun stated that before PUBG Mobile’s ban, it had become a hot property, was in the news, brands were accumulating, it was getting a good viewership, and tournaments with big prize pools were taking place. However, the ban imposed on the game shook things up in the play that were building in the industry, but Varun attributed some of the blame to the people in the ecosystem. He explained that many players felt they were on top of the world, but one cannot become a successful player, like Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, overnight. “You just cannot. I mean, your performance needs to be at its peak for people to envy you or even embrace you. That somehow in the line we saw fading away,” he added.
He noted that the competitive spirit of the whole esports scene sort of faded right in front of his eyes. As a result, Entity Gaming decided to observe and evaluate the industry from a distance. “We were happy; we were, in fact, like, “Okay, we will take a seat back from the Indian scene just watch it and observe closely how it is churning out,” especially because the COVID happened, and then the lockdown took place, and all of that stuff happened. People were stuck at home. We took a seat back and were evaluating what others do,” he said.
Varun expressed his frustration over the players in the industry who claimed to be superstars like Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar but did not contribute to building a strong foundation for the industry. “You were not helping to build that foundation that could have been a beautiful place for all of us, but in fact, you were leaching out of the foundation. That is my biggest problem,” he added.
Varun believes Indian esports have started focusing on drama more than the competition
He expressed his personal perspective that the competitive spirit in India seemed to be dying and that the industry was becoming more dramatized, focusing more on the entertainment side of things than the competition. “There was no competition; there was no tournament that was happening. I mean, whatever the people were leaching off was hosting a few tournaments here and there, keeping the aspirations of the game to make a healthy return,” he added.
Varun expressed concern that the volatility of the market and the weakness of the system could repel the prospects of future brands and international teams from entering the Indian market. He added the industry was still in a developing state, and it was crucial for the community to come together and show support for local organizations. “Obviously, the top esports organizations are going to look at that aspect and come and milk it, or they promised to build it, but they mostly come to milk it. So, people need to understand that you want to do something that you are proud of. You, as a community, need to unite and show that these are the rooted Indian organizations,” he added.
BGMI
Varun shares Entity Gaming’s goal for the Indian esports scene
He stated that Entity Gaming’s roadmap, for the longest time, was to put India on the front page. The organization wanted its Indian teams and players to be on the front page at the international level, but the competitive spirit started fading away. “We just saw that fandom, that YouTube numbers, the views, and all of that started coming in more than. “Hey, the organization has given me an opportunity to fly to Europe to bootcamp. I want to push hard and learn from the locals.” You are essentially going into the Mecca of esports, Counter Strike, and Dota. If you are given that opportunity as an Indian organization to go there for a month-long exercise, to stay there, to train there, and you still can’t bloom into a global performer, then you are worthless, you know, you have no value,” he added.
Varun felt that the competitive spirit was fading away, and the focus had shifted to drama and entertainment rather than tournaments and competition. He observed that people were more interested in their YouTube numbers and views rather than striving to be global performers. “Everybody started jumping in the camera, and that jargon started happening, which is why we took a backseat, and we kept low, and we were silently observing the market,” he added.
He added that Entity Gaming had taken a backseat and was silently observing the market, waiting for a chance to explore new opportunities. However, he also acknowledged that the quality of news coming out of India regarding esports was not always positive, with many negative reports overshadowing the few positive developments.
