Interview with Team Vitality’s Argon: Bringing Indian COD Mobile into the Spotlight

Team Vitality announced its entry into India in 2020 and signed its first esports roster in March 2021. The new Call of Duty (COD) Mobile roster comprises Armaan “Moonscope” Dharni, Akshan “Argon” Madhani, Priyank “DEATH” Birajdar”, Samartha “JOKOs” Ghadge, Samruddha “SAMs” Ghadge and substitute player Arav “MonK” Narang. In a matter of months, the team managed to position itself as one of the best COD Mobile teams in South Asia after securing a 30-0 win streak during Stage 2 of the Call of Duty Mobile Championship.

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Free Fire may always be in the spotlight of Indian esports, but Call of Duty: Mobile’s competitive scene is growing. Team Vitality is just one of many teams that is pushing the Indian COD Mobile scene forward. AFK Gaming had a chance to speak to Argon, who shared his thoughts on how Team Vitality sees the future of COD Mobile esports in India.

Team Vitality’s commitment to Call of Duty Mobile

The Call of Duty Mobile esports scene in India has a few key teams that are committed to the game and they include GodLike Esports, Reckoning Esports, and Team Vitality. All three teams made it to the recently concluded Call of Duty Mobile World Championship 2021 - East Finals. None of the three Indian teams made it to the playoffs and we saw Tier One Entertainments’ Filipino COD Mobile team Blacklist International lift the Eastern Finals Championship trophy.

The two finalists Blacklist International and ALMIGHTY dampened Vitality’s chances of qualifying for the finals at the event. Argon had also correctly predicted SCARZ as a team to watch out for. The Japanese esports organization was in the same group as Vitality and ended up winning against the Indian roster 3-0.

Argon told AFK Gaming ahead of the world championship, “The Japanese regional champions SCARZ has impressed us a lot. Their gunfights are really strong and their playstyle is different from other teams who are competing in this championship. That's why we are really excited to face them in the tournament.”

Despite the setback, Team Vitality is ready to go at it again. It has established itself as a prominent competitor in South Asia. The challenge of beating the best in the world is something the team does not shy away from. The team has been around for almost a year and it wants to stick together and compete in future events in 2022.

Argon said, “We trust each other in-game as well as outside the game. We discuss our mistakes together and try to solve them together rather than pointing fingers at someone, which boosts the morale of the team as a whole.”

Why is COD Mobile struggling to keep up with BGMI and Free Fire

Within the first two months of release, India became the second-largest market for Call of Duty Mobile in the world with over 17.5 million downloads coming from the country. Argon feels that Call of Duty Mobile should focus more on Indian teams because of the large audience and the number of competitive teams that the country possesses.

India’s PC and mobile game revenue is expected to reach $534.1 million USD in 2021 and $1.49 billion in 2025 according to the Asia Games Market Report by Niko Partners. India’s PC and mobile gamers will grow at a 5-year CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 13.7%, reaching 529.1 million in 2025. The country is expected to account for 56% of all mobile and PC gamers in the Asia-10 region.

While all of these numbers might look promising India has the lowest ‘Average Revenue Per User’ (ARPU) in the region and requires a different approach to monetization according to the report. While India has a large audience, it might not be the most lucrative for COD Mobile.

Battlegrounds Mobile India’s launch party in 2021 drew in an average concurrent viewership of over 218,000 according to Esports Charts while Free Fire’s India Fall Championship had over 99,000 average concurrent viewers. In comparison, the recently concluded Call of Duty Mobile World Championship 2021 East Finals saw around 10,000 concurrent viewers.

The reasons behind a lack of engagement from both the publisher and the casual audience might be causes for concern, but Argon is hopeful about COD Mobile’s future. Despite the low engagement, India continues to be one of the more important regions for the game’s esports. The country had two majors in the past year which includes the COD Mobile India Cup in February 2021 and the Jio Cup in June this year.

Argon revealed that a COD Mobile Dreamhack LAN event is scheduled for 2021 and the world championships should also boost the esports scene in India. One of the hurdles COD Mobile faced this year was the cancellation of the global championships. The publisher had to host separate events for East and West regions due to the ongoing pandemic preventing a single event that would otherwise feature all regions.

Preparing for the future of Call of Duty Mobile in India

Team Vitality believes in the potential of Call of Duty Mobile in India. After its exit from the Call of Duty Mobile World Championship - East Finals, the team is back to preparing for future events. 2022’s competitive circuit might be able to move away from the dual world championship format. Activision originally intended to host one world championship and if global regulations ease up and grant permissions, fans might get to see Vitality compete against North American and European teams next year.

Argon revealed that the team practices for nearly 10 hours a day with short breaks in between. The transition from S8UL Esports to Team Vitality was jarring but the roster has managed to pick up where it left off. Argon said “The biggest hurdle was shifting to new devices. It really affected our gameplay and team synergy for a few days.”

The players have been together since their time in S8UL Esports and have spent nine months together at Vitality. Argon and his teammates have produced consistent results throughout the year. The team won the IGL Invitational scrims this year and secured second place at the COD Mobile World Championship - South Asia and Middle East finals. The team has multiple top finishes in 2021 and it will look to improve its results next year, especially at the world championships.

The team hopes for more attention from the publisher to be directed towards on India. As one of the most prominent competitors in COD Mobile India esports, Vitality’s performances in 2022 could bring the region into the spotlight on the global stage and in turn help grow the region’s COD Mobile esports community.