Gamerji has expanded in the MENA Region, and they aim for a sharp uptick as the country develops more interest in gaming and esports.
In conversation with AnimationXpress, Gamerji CEO and founder Soham Thacker shared, “It’s still early days but the response we have received from the early adopters in the region has been exceptional. We already have more than 100K gamers active on Gamerji since our launch in the region. We are confident that as we enter newer markets in the Middle East, these numbers will see a sharp uptick.”
Gamerji’s user base has grown from 50,000 to over 30 lakh today; from having only two games on the platform to now having 18 titles. They’ve been hosting 300 tournaments per day, making deep inroads into India’s tier 2 and 3 cities, hiring extra resources and better servers to handle the load, and strategically integrating more games into the platform. According to Thacker, the key factors driving Gamerji’s growth are increased awareness of gaming and esports in India, as well as a strong tech team capable of running tournaments and continuously enhancing the gaming experience.
Since the lockdowns were lifted, the Gamerji platform has observed a decrease in the amount of time spent by gamers. But gaming continues to be accepted, and interest has grown in it. As a result, even in the post-pandemic world, their numbers have not significantly decreased.
Speaking on the challenges, Thacker commented, “The major challenge revolves around the lack of a governing body for gaming in India. The recent bans on popular games like BGMI and Free Fire and also the changing laws around gaming make it hard for the industry to grow, despite gaming being an untapped market in India.”
Currently, on the Gamerji platform, 87 per cent of the audience is male. More than 63 per cent of the audience is between 18 to 35 years of age, primarily from states like UP, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra.
“Based on our internal data insights, we have realised that a lot of audiences in tier 2 & 3 cities have been following a large number of influencers, and hence, partnering with them has been the primary method to reach our target audience in these geographic pockets, “ he shared.
Gamerji’s expansion in the MENA region was quite a milestone as half of the world is getting confused between esports and RMG. According to Thacker, the primary advantages of expanding to the Middle East are the prospects of industry growth, a higher paying audience, and a largely untapped market in terms of the lack of platforms that can host multiple tournaments on a daily basis. “Since Gamerji is not a real money gaming platform, it is legally approved in the Middle East and also among the game publishers. Gaming and esports are growing rapidly in the Middle East, with very few tournaments being hosted. That is where we saw an opportunity and decided to enter the region. “
Post successful launch in the MENA, they are planning to expand to SEA countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines. Right now, their focus is on growing and strengthening their position in the Middle East.
Thacker expressed, “South East Asia has a favourable business potential. These countries have a huge following and awareness of esports, along with high in-game spending. We plan to gain maximum users from India and leverage that traction to provide an instantaneous tournament experience for cross-border tournaments.”
For 2022, they are planning to reach 10 million users and aim to host more than 1,000 tournaments daily on Gamerji.