Rooter introduces battle-royale format for Grand Theft Auto in India

Rooter and Indonesia GTA V Masters Championship (IGMC) has partnered with SoulCity, S8UL’s Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) arm to launch the premier edition of the Indian GTA V Rumble Invitational.

Designed to enhance competitiveness, the format will create opportunities for the teams to display their skills through decisive face-offs. Dipesh Agarwal, Co-founder and COO, Rooter discusses how Rooter's decision to introduce a battle-royale format for GTA in India stems from its strategic focus on providing distinctive content to gamers in India, particularly within the realm of esports.

Edited excerpts:

What inspired Rooter to introduce a battle-royale format for GTA (Grand Theft Auto) in India?

Rooter's decision to introduce a battle-royale format for GTA in India stems from its strategic focus on providing distinctive content to gamers in India, particularly within the realm of esports. By introducing a battle-royale format within GTA, Rooter aims to push the development of more competitive and engaging play opportunities and establish new intellectual properties for an immensely popular title like GTA. By collaborating with IGMC (Indonesia GTA V Masters Championship), which has successfully-tested this format in Indonesia and SoulCity, one of the leading GTA servers in the country, Rooter is leveraging the tournament conducting expertise and community outreach capabilities these partners bring to the table, even as Rooter provides a distinctive streaming experience to the fanbase.

How does Rooter's initiative to introduce a battle-royale format for GTA contribute to the expansion of the esports ecosystem beyond popular titles like BGMI?

The Indian GTAV Rumble Invitational not only seeks to diversify the esports landscape but also reflects Rooter's commitment to exploring innovative avenues within the gaming industry to engage and entertain its audience. The GTA server's dynamics closely resemble those of a typical battle royale game, with teams dropping off players into intense combat situations, operating with all the exciting elements like first-person-shooter style gameplay, shrinking maps and more. This extension of a generic format to GTA represents an experimental step towards diversifying the esports landscape.

What are the key objectives Rooter aims to achieve through the introduction of the battle-royale format for GTA, both in terms of community engagement and esports development? Can you elaborate on the advantages brands can gain from partnering with esports events, particularly highlighting the unique opportunities presented by GTA 5?

Rooter aims to achieve several key objectives through the introduction of the battle-royale format for GTA. Firstly, by adopting and fine-tuning this format, Rooter seeks to expand its market reach while creating opportunities for brand partners to engage with more games. We believe GTA’s compelling storytelling, rich graphics and gameplay experience that mimics the real world creates opportunities for consumer brands in fashion, auto, food and beverages, sportswear etc to find a fit with the GTA universe. It's early days for this edition but we’ve been working with a host of endemic and non-endemic brands driving brand sponsorships, influencer campaigns, brand advertising opportunities and more around esports and aim to lock more collaborations in this space.

How does Rooter plan to support and sustain the newly introduced battle-royale format for GTA, ensuring its longevity and success within the Indian gaming community?

As this is the first edition of the India GTAV Rumble Invitational, we will be closely monitoring the feedback from the esports teams as well as the reception to this format from the community. We will continue to develop more such tournaments across online and offline formats.