PVR Limited, India’s largest cinema exhibition company, and esports company Nodwin Gaming have announced a new partnership for India’s first in-cinema esports live tournaments together, beginning with Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), the version of PUBG exclusively for India.
Gamers and gaming enthusiasts across India will now be able to participate in online esports cups and in-cinema tournaments with separate prize pools for each city. This initiative is expected to fast track esports entertainment’s growth trajectory in India by combining the appeal of esports gaming with the magic of big screen experience.
PVR has launched a pilot in four cities – Gurugram, Indore, Hyderabad and Mumbai – where it will live stream the competition of BGMI. The quarter-final, semi-final and finals of the cups, in each participating city, will be broadcast in selected PVR Cinemas, along with live streams on various digital platforms, including Nodwin Facebook and Youtube pages, PVR’s website and mobile app.
In China, in-cinema esports is already well established. In contrast to mainstream professional sports, in lieu of athletic equipment, esports players typically come geared with a gaming PC rig that boasts specialized keyboards, gaming mice, graphic cards, and other helpful gadgets.
Nodwin Gaming MD & Co-Founder Akshat Rathee said: “Our association with PVR Cinemas opens a corridor towards mainstreaming esports and placing it right in the middle of the entertainment industry. Esports as an upcoming medium of interactive entertainment has had its fair share of visibility in the jam-packed arenas but it’s about time that we bring the action to the silver screen.”
PVR currently has a cinema circuit comprising 849 screens in 72 cities of India and Sri Lanka.
