Building on its commitment towards creating a sustainable eSports ecosystem in the country, the Grand Finals of the OPPO x PUBG MOBILE India Series 2019 took place yesterday, the 10th of March 2019. The finale that took place in Hyderabad with the support of the Telangana Government garnered an extraordinary response from PUBG MOBILE enthusiasts, as players and audience were treated to an eSports spectacle like no other. While team S0UL emerged victorious, the tournament was hard-fought and closely contested with some edge-of-the-seat action on offer. To top it all off, the event boasted of a production value like no other, in true PUBG MOBILE style.
In one of the most engaging preliminary rounds of any eSports event, PUBG MOBILE India Series 2019, sponsored by OPPO witnessed over 400,000 games played across in-game qualifiers and 3 online rounds with over 575,000 registrations from across the country. What followed, was a thrilling Grand Finale with the top 20 squads battling it out in the greatest eSports experience the country has seen till date. With the support of the Govt. of Telangana, the event took place at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad. The open-for-all event put gaming aficionados, professional and amateur gamers under one roof united by their common love for PUBG MOBILE.
The winning team, S0UL, was led by Naman Mathur A.K.A Mortal, took home a cash prize of Rs 30,00,000 along with OPPO smartphones. The scale of this event was no surprise considering the success of the PUBG MOBILE Campus Championship towards the end of last year. The response, however, was a quantum leap from PUBG MOBILE’s previous eSports extravaganza. Being the first open-to-all tournament in India, served as an experiential learning curve for aspiring gamers and fans of India’s most loved game.
As is customary with PUBG MOBILE tournaments, the OPPO PUBG MOBILE India Series also saw numerous players awarded for their distinctive skill set. The MVP of the Campus Championship was Kaushal Kumar A.K.A ItsKK, from Team God’s Reign with the maximum number of MVP awards on the final day. Team “Maximus Alpha” were awarded as ‘The Healers with maximum revives. With the maximum kills in one game, Kaushal Kumar A.K.A ItsKK from Team “God’s Reign”, earned the tag of ‘The Lone Ranger’.
The experience of the country’s largest esports event was only heightened by some A-list casters from the eSports fraternity. The English casting honours were carried out by Humanist, Ilustrado, and Asurai, while the Hindi casting was taken on by TheRawknee, Paritosh Plays, and K18 Gaming. These familiar names in the eSports circuit came together along with host Abish Mathew for India’s largest esports tournament final ever.
The advent of esports in India is visible. The OPPO PUBG MOBILE India Series will be remembered as another definitive step in establishing a sustainable esports ecosystem. It would be fair to say that PUBG MOBILE have outdone themselves compared to their previous efforts. If this is a sign of the imminent impact of esports in India, it would be fair to say that the future of Indian esports is full of promise.
