Disney+ Hotstar is acting as a streaming partner for the fifth edition of the ESL India Premiership which has been organised by NODWIN Gaming. ESL is the world’s largest esports organising and production company that hosts competitive video-game tournaments.
Due to lockdown, the tournament, which is in its fifth edition, saw over 12,000 registrations which began on May 21. The participants can chose to compete in four games this year which are FIFA 20, Counter Strike: GO, PUBG Mobile and Clash of Clans. The final date to register is June 14.
The number of entrants is four times more than what it was for the tournament last year.
Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and MD, NODWIN Gaming said:
“We are extremely happy by this overwhelming response to the premiership, having already registered 4 times the number of players as compared to last year and in half the time at that. This keen interest in esports is set to grow exponentially in times to come. In the past few months during this lockdown, a huge chunk of youth in India made a shift to digital medium for their entertainment fix and we don’t see them going back to the pre-lockdown patterns. We expect big esports events like the ESL India Premiership 2020 to continue to gain traction amongst the youth.(sic)”
This is huge boost for avid gamers stuck indoors due to the pandemic and also offers a huge sum of ₹1.15 crore as prize money. The tournament is also being organised under the #PlayApartTogether campaign which encourages players to stay indoors and safe from the virus.