BGMI's return sparks brand partnerships, sponsorships and revenue surge in India's gaming landscape

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) has swiftly regained popularity in India, attracting content creators and brands alike. Within just a few days of its return, BGMI has opened doors for strategic partnerships, collaborations, sponsorships and brand integration.

The popularity of the game in India has attracted both endemic and non-endemic brands that are eager to leverage its reach and amplification.

BGMI is a multiplayer battle royale game developed and published by Krafton. BGMI was banned by the Indian government in July 2022 due to security concerns.

Philips India recently partnered with BGMI to launch its e-sports team, OneBlade, targeting the Gen Z audience. This collaboration is just one among many strategic announcements by brands like Nodwin, Rooter, iQOO and more. From high-stakes tournaments to brand collaborations and sponsorships, BGMI is making up for lost time.

Parth Chadha, chief executive officer and co-founder of Bengaluru-headquartered blockchain-based fan engagement startup STAN, said BGMI downloads are hitting record numbers since its return announcement on May 19.

According to him, third-party tournament organisers have awarded over Rs 1.2 crore in prize money just in June and tournaments with prize pools exceeding Rs 20 lakh have become more frequent. Naturally, experts expect BGMI to also push overall revenues in the gaming and e-sports space.

As per Rohit Agarwal, founder and director of Alpha Zegus, a marketing agency specialising in gaming, before the ban, BGMI and Free Fire— a survival shooter game, together had more brand affiliations and endorsements than all other games combined and the trend is expected to sustain.

“If all goes well as it did before, we are hoping to see at least a 40 percent rise in overall cash flow into the gaming industry,” Agarwal added.

Pushing reach and revenue for endemic brands

Piyush Kumar, founder and CEO of game streaming and e-sports content platform Rooter, said close to 1.5 lakh viewers only consume e-sports-related content on their platform and this user base became inactive with the BGMI ban.

“We’d seen a dip of about 10 percent on livestream engagements around BGMI. With the return of the game, we have seen viewership on BGMI-related livestreams already tracking pre-ban levels, even as reels and videos continue to grab eyeballs. In just the last 10 days, we’ve recorded over 4 lakh organic installs,” Kumar said.

The platform also saw its user base grow. In the same period, the 1.5 lakhs users who typically came to the platform to consume only e-sports-related content logged in again on Rooter.

In the recently concluded Rooter X NODWIN Gaming BGMI Champions Cup, Rooter hit over 1 lakh peak concurrent views and saw a close to 40 percent increase in daily active users. Interestingly, the platform expects BGMI to contribute about 20 percent more towards overall revenue over the next few months.

Having surpassed more than 100 million registered users prior to its ban, the game was one of the highest-grossing and biggest revenue-generating Android apps in the country, said Lokesh Suji, director, Esports Federation of India and vice president of the Asian Esports Federation.

“Through collaborations, events and sponsorships, BGMI played a pivotal role in generating revenue and enabling growth opportunities for both brands and gaming creators of the community. Upon return, we expect the same trend to continue,” Suji said.

Brands using BGMI to target Gen Z

Games like BGMI offer brands an opportunity to engage with Millennials and Gen Z. Brands can monetise through in-game ads, sponsorships, merchandise sales and create immersive experiences too.

Philips, for instance, in its latest collaboration announcement said it aims to cater to the grooming needs of Gen Z gamers.

Mobile brand iQOO, which announced a Pro Series BGMI Tournament, garnered a viewership of 7.5 million and over 40,000 contest entries.

Nipun Marya, CEO, iQOO India, said, “BGMI's comeback offers a lucrative business opportunity for gaming-focused smartphone brands. Its popularity among Gen Z gamers allows brands to meet the demand for high-performance devices. Through tournaments and collaborations, brands can boost visibility and credibility in the gaming community.”

The way ahead

While tournaments and collaborations continue to happen, it is important to remember that the future of BGMI in India also hinges on the outcome of its three-month probation period.

From a business perspective, though, the number of tournaments and prize pools that have seen a jump in just a little over a month shows the potential BGMI has.

In fact, according to gamer and co-Founder and CEO at 8Bit Creatives, Animesh Agarwal, BGMI has the potential to not only meet but surpass its previous standards, setting new benchmarks for the mobile gaming industry in India.