MUMBAI: Kwan Entertainment and Mediarex Sports Entertainment have announced a multi-year strategic partnership that will see the two companies bring the Global Player League (GPL) to India.
The two organizations see GPL as offering Indian esports & poker enthusiasts an avenue to experience – and potentially participate in – the GPL’s take on the sports/ esports league concept via this new branch of Mediarex’s sports entertainment property.
Initially begun as the Global Poker League to promote poker specifically as a skill game & sport, the GPL has now transformed into the Global Player League to denote its focus on sportifying a multitude of new and emerging titles within today’s competitive gaming ecosystem.
Catering to India’s 263 million active gamers, Kwan & Mediarex are committed to making GPL India a platform that is capable of connecting the nation’s esports and poker lovers to the rest of the world, and ensuring inclusion for Indian audiences as the global gaming market continues to boom.
As Mediarex CEO Alex Dreyfus notes, “For us, creating a fused sports, esports and gaming entertainment platform in India is a singular priority. We want to keep up with the country’s appetite for this type of entertainment serve this audience’s needs. Developing GPL here in partnership with Kwan is a great way to do so.”
Indranil Das Blah, a managing partner at Kwan Entertainment, echoed Dreyfus’ enthusiasm, adding that, “The Indian market is going digital at an astonishingly rapid pace and esports is not far behind. This is a great idea with a lot of potential and we’re excited to see how it develops through this partnership.”
With several leagues already successfully launched across US, European and Chinese territories, the GPL heads to India with a development roadmap firmly in hand and its six franchises and team captains set in place.
Captains were chosen from a cross section of the nation’s most accomplished and top Global Poker Index (GPI) ranked players, with WSOP champions and millions of dollars in winnings split amongst them.
Meanwhile, teams were selected to represent major metropolitan areas all over India with the Ahmedabad Alphas, Bengaluru Hackers, Chennai Sharks, Delhi Diehards, Kolkata Creators and Mumbai Jetsetters named as the first season’s introductory franchises.
Opening details on each GPL India team, including manager names is currently listed here…
