EXCLUSIVE: CMO Gnana Shekar Opens Up on Skyesports’ 2022 Plans, Diversifying the Esports Portfolio, and Developing Esports on a Grassroot Level in India

Popular Esports and gaming venture Skyesports recently unveiled their stacked lineup of events for the year 2022 with some surprising new entries.

2022 will see the return of some of Skyesports’ most popular tournaments with bigger stakes, thanks to increases in prize pools. Along with that, fans can expect to see the addition of tournaments for new IPs as well.

Other than that, Skyesports will also return to the LAN format for some of its tournaments, and by the looks of it, 2022 seems poised to be a big year for Indian Esports and the Chennai-based venture as well.

2022 will have seven major Skyesports events in the South Asian region. These tournaments will be held on games like Valorant, BGMI, League of Legends, Free Fire, Hearthstone, FIFA, Real Cricket, Supercell titles, and more.

Here’s a roadmap of all the tournaments that will take place this year:

February – March: Skyesports Grand Slam 2022 S1

To kick things off, Skyesports will launch its first season of the Grand Slam, an open-for-all tournament on Valorant and BGMI, with both games sharing a prize pool of $40,000.

March – April: Skyesports Pro League

Skyesports will then debut the Pro League during the late spring, which will feature a $20,000 prize pool shared between Valorant, League of Legends, Dota 2 and Free Fire.

April – May: Skyesports League 2022

During the sweltering Indian summer, Skyesports will enter the LAN format with its city-based premier league. The event is set to be the highlight of Skyesports’ lineup for 2022 as it features a player auction, and along with that, teams will compete for a stake in the Rs. 1.5 crore prize pool.

August – October: Skyesports Championship 4.0

The fourth iteration of the Skyesports Championship will also take place later this year, but with a twist as 2022 will see the event move to the LAN format.

With a prize pool of Rs 1 crore, the tournament is set to be one of Skyesports marquee events, and fans might want to mark their calendars for it.

September – October: Real Cricket Championship 2022

Skyesports will also make their foray into the mobile cricket world as it will debut a Real Cricket Championship with a Rs. 50 lakh prize pool during the months of autumn.

October: Skyesports Grand Slam 2022 S2

2022 will see the arrival of not just one but two seasons of Skyesports Grand Slam, with the second one set to launch in October.

November – December: Skyesports Mobile Open

Finally to close out the year, 2022 will include the second iteration of the popular mobile gaming event with tournaments on several games that players might want to brush up their skills on.

Other than these seven premier events, Skyesports will continue their several grassroots level tournaments and first party events as well.

Moreover, the company will even share more details on the delayed Skyesports Tri-Esports LAN event, which was set to be held in Dubai last year.

Finally, fans will also receive an exciting announcement from Skyesports following the conclusion of VCT Stage 1 in April.

To talk more about their exciting plans for the future, I had a chat with Skyesports CMO Gnana Shekar to shed more light on the 2022 lineup with its new additions and more.

I would like to start off with your ongoing tournament in the first season of the Skyesports Grand Slam. With a second season set to begin later this year in October, what can fans expect to see different with the event?

The Skyesports Grand Slam will return with a similar format for its second season of the year. As usual, it will have an open-for-all format and several games. Season one features a $40,000 prize pool, and while we can’t announce the exact prize money for the second season, it will be in this range only.

Another thing I found very intriguing in the roadmap is the introduction of a Real Cricket Championship. I have personally never seen a major Esports tournament involving mobile cricket, and as of right now it’s fair to say that it doesn’t have the audience of Battle Royale or FPS. So, what caused the team at Skyesports to take such a step?

Real Cricket has been developed by the Indian company, Nautilus Mobiles, which is owned by JetSynthesys. Cricket is undoubtedly the most popular sport in the country and it’s time to carry some of that popularity to competitive gaming as well, just like EA Sports’ FIFA has done.

Real Cricket has more than 1 crore downloads and is extremely popular in India. We are already hosting the first edition of the Real Cricket Championship right now and are thrilled by the viewership and participation by the community. We are excited to return to the game later this year with a much bigger prize pool.

2022 will be the year you move to the LAN format for both the Skyesports League 2022 and Skyesports Championship 4.0. According to the roadmap, it’s very likely that the first LAN match will be held in a few months, and obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a bit unpredictable, so is there a cause of concern as of right now about these tournaments?

The safety of the participants and our staff is the number one priority and we are taking steps to ensure that the LAN events happen smoothly. Teams will be placed in a bio-bubble and regular testing will be done.

We are excited to host LAN events from this year as it will provide a much better viewing experience for the audience and also ensure that connection issues and unfair practices don’t take place.

Along with the new games and tournaments, the prize pool has increased significantly as well with three Skyesports events having a prize pool of Rs. 1 crore or more. Now, do you personally think this is the year Indian Esports takes the next big step because it has been teetering along the edge for a while?

I think that there is still a lot of work to be done. The present esports audience has been concentrated in the tier one cities of the country. Growing the community from the grassroots level in tier 2 and 3 cities is one area of focus for us in 2022.

I think that the players from here will not only contribute to increasing the overall viewership, but we may also get to see a rise of new talents through Skyesports’ grassroots level tournaments. These emerging players could go on to sign with big teams who are always scouting for new talent.

Also, with the inclusion of esports as a medal event at the Asian Games, it’s time for the government to recognize it as well. I hope that the ministry of sports recognizes a worthy federation to lead the efforts of growing esports in India.

The Valorant Tri-Series LAN event in Dubai had to be postponed last year, and it looks like it will happen sometime this year. I enjoy this format a lot because it’s the best players representing the nation, so do you think a larger series that works around a World Cup format will be possible in the near future?

There are no plans for a World Cup format at the moment since you can’t really host a “world” competition with three countries. But, we are constantly looking at ways to improve our IPs or establish new ones by listening to community feedback and making tweaks of our own.

Right now, the Tri-Series revolves around Valorant, but would you want to go to the mobile world for a possible expansion or would you stick around for another PC title before you make the jump?

It’s too early to comment on that. We are still looking to conduct the Skyesports Tri-Series in a safe and successful manner in Dubai. Of course, all of our IPs include several games so I wouldn’t eliminate that possibility.

Another title from the lineup that caught my attention was Hearthstone. The game has been a major success in NA and Europe. Do you have a similar aspiration for the game’s professional circuit in India or is it possible for Hearthstone to garner a similar audience to that of Battle Royale or FPS?

We first hosted a tournament for Hearthstone in the Skyesports Mobile Open late last year and saw great engagement from the community.

I don’t think Hearthstone could replicate the popularity of Battle Royales due to its highly strategic gameplay. Nonetheless, it has a sizable community in India and is also a part of the Asian Games 2022. Remember, the only medal India has in Esports at the Asiad is in Hearthstone when Tirth Mehta struck bronze in 2018.

Just like other Asian Games esports titles like BGMI and League of Legends, we will be hosting Hearthstone tournaments as well as a part of our Road to Asian Games program. This program provides crucial practice to the players ahead of the sporting competition in September.

Final question, are there any plans to bring back the Skyesports Skirmish series this year?

Definitely, the Skyesports Skirmish Series features a very unique format as we split India into smaller zones to increase participation from the grassroots level. As we increase our focus on tier 2 and 3 cities of India in 2022, the Skyesports Skirmish Series is an important competition to give a chance to talent from every nook and corner of the country to make it big.