EXCLUSIVE: Ampverse Shuts 7Sea Esports; Founder says 'can't see growth trajectory in India'

Ampverse announced its entry into India with much fanfare after acquiring 7Sea Esports in 2021. However, lacking an adequate monetization model, Ampverse decided to quietly shut 7Sea Esports. Currently, 7Sea Esports has shut down its operations in India. The founder of 7Sea esports claimed that he cannot see a growth trajectory in esports as a segment in India.

Ashwin Haryani, Country Head of Ampverse DMI confirmed the development, saying, “Ampverse had acquired 7Sea, and two months later, the game got banned. Since the game didn't get unbanned for a year, we decided to shut down the team.”

Santosh Pecheti, Founder, 7Sea Esports declined to comment on the status pertaining to Ampverse and 7Sea Esports. Pecheti said, “I cannot really comment on what exactly is happening between Ampverse and 7Sea Esports. Grapple, 7Sea parent company has investments in multiple countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and for now we don’t see India is on a growth trajectory. There is no clear path of growth trajectory in India but we are still committed towards funding in India for some time. We are looking at viable options for us.”

Pecheti further said, “As far as esports in India is concerned, we are negotiating with couple of teams. We believe that BGMI should not be the only title for esports in India but also multiple titles which would be a profitable venture for us.”

In 2022, Ampverse also announced its venture into the lifestyle and entertainment segment through a music video. The music video was launched as part of a rebranding exercise for 7Sea Esports and was supported by content creators. After the acquisition, the company announced plans to make a multi-million dollar investment to accelerate the esports and gaming ecosystem in the market.

In a press statement, the organization had said, “Ampverse will spearhead the growth and development of 7Sea, following its blueprint of turning high-growth esports teams into powerful, culturally relevant brands while creating strong communities that connect with fans at scale.”

In the recent past, multiple esports teams in India have shut business operations or have dismantled their esports rosters leaving a handful of esports teams banking on the popularity of titles such as Krafton’s Battle Royale Game, Battleground Mobile India and Riot Games’ First Person Shooter game, Valorant.