The Indian E-Sports scenario is all set for a major revamp as U Sports, one
of India’s biggest sports business companies in association with India’s No. 1
Youth Brand, MTV, announces the premiere of their all new month-long
championship, U Cypher with MTV. Premiered on January 19, the
show will air every day from 10pm to 11pm on MTV.
Backed by Ronnie
Screwvala (Founder, U Sports) and Supratik Sen (Co-Founder
& CEO, U Sports),the Indian E-Sports scenario
is all set for a major revamp with U Cypher with MTV.
The league is a first of its kind, multi-platform, multi-game E-Sports
championship which comprises of 35 episodes. In its first season, U
Cypher with MTV will have 6 teams with 14 members in each team. Each
episode will have two teams face off across titles like DOTA 2 and CS: GO on
PC, Real Cricket 2017 on mobile and Tekken 7 on PS4 with a prize pool of a
whooping INR 51 Lakhs. The final four will play knockouts to determine the
winners.
Ronnie Screwvala,
Founder, U Sports said, “There has been an enthusiasm for
E-Sports sparkling under the surface in the country for far longer than what is
known. U Cypher with MTV provides a platform for talented
gamers to achieve their maximum potential and build their career in E-sports. The
players have been meticulously picked from the Top E-sport Tournaments and
teams from Pan India. The digital and broadband revolution has changed the game
for this sport. CS and DOTA have had 20 million downloads in the past 10 years
in India. And that’s a huge number for something that’s only starting to fully
surface.”
Commenting on the association with U
Sports, Raj Nayak, COO, Viacom18 said, “E-Sports is growing fast
worldwide. Not only that but the annual consumption of E-Sports content stands
at almost over 3.7 billion hours across various platforms which are largely
digital. Closer to home, in India the gaming market is estimated to be over USD
600 million. Given the potential one can see, we at MTV are excited to be the
first and only media network in the country to showcase an E-Sports League on
television! We are delighted to partner with U Sports to craft a new tomorrow today
through the launch of our exciting and one of a kind new property – U Cypher -
only on MTV!”
Supratik Sen,
Co-Founder & CEO, U Sports said, “We are all set to
showcase the biggest E-Sports championship on television with U Cypher
with MTV. This will be the rise of a new batch of athletes and U Sports will look to give thde best E-Sports athletes
a chance to showcase their abilities. E-Sports is growing at a rapid pace and has been announced as a medal event in the
2022 Asian Games. E-Sports is moving from being a hobby to an actual career
option and its high time we saw the potential in it.”
Ferzad Palia, Head - Youth, Music and
English Entertainment, Viacom18 said, “E-Sports has found immense
number of takers in India thanks to it being home to the world’s largest youth
population and the world’s second largest internet user base. Keeping this in
mind, it was thus a natural step for us at MTV, the brand with the ultimate
word on the youth in India, to invest in a one-of-a-kind show ‘U Cypher’ that
takes e-sports out of bedrooms of gamers & gaming arcades and into living
rooms through television.
A truly unique concept, U Cypher will
see gamers - who have hitherto been known only in select circles – taking on
other gamers across multiplatform, multiplayer games in a specially designed
arena. At MTV, we have always taken pride in being trendsetters for the youth
and thus are thoroughly excited to bring a brand-new concept which will allow
viewers to witness the creation of completely new kind of superstars!”
E-Sports and the gaming market is estimated to be over USD 500-600
million with more than 2000 teams consistently participating in tournaments
across India and abroad. U Cypher delves into the culture of
E-Sport and finds a world of intense competition and massive opportunities.
The episodes and
gameplay will also be available digitally on Usports.in, MTV, Voot, YouTube,
YouTube Gaming and Twitch. MTV has also planned an extensive digital plan to
promote the show in addition to promotions across the Viacom18 network
channels.
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