India’s esports scene is about to go BOOM

India’s gamers have waited a long time for something meaningful to shift in the esports landscape. While tournaments have popped up in different corners, very little has tied the ecosystem together in a way that feels truly Indian, not just in format but in energy, access, and community. What most players, creators, and fans have long wanted is something that blends competition with entertainment and gives every kind of gamer a real place to participate.

That is the vision JioBLAST is betting on. And when I spoke with Charlie Cowdrey, the company’s CEO who recently moved from London to Mumbai, it was clear he was not here to repeat existing playbooks. His plans revolve around widening the entry gates for gamers, elevating broadcast standards, and stitching creators and fans directly into the competitive fabric. It feels less like a single IP and more like a rebuild of the entire foundation.

The excitement in his voice made one thing obvious: For JioBLAST, this moment is not about launching another tournament. It is the start of designing India’s next era of gaming entertainment: big, ambitious, and rooted in what Indian audiences actually want to watch and play.

Part 1: Building India’s competitive engine

Rethinking IPs for a creator-first nation

India’s creator economy is not just thriving, it is shaping how people consume entertainment. For JioBLAST, that insight was the starting point. Charlie described how the team looked closely at what excites Indian audiences and realized that esports here cannot be built as a purist model. It must blend creators, fans, and top players into a shared experience. That idea eventually became Allstars vs India, their first large-format IP.

In designing it, Charlie and his team wanted to offer something that had a bit of everything: open participation for competitive players, high-quality broadcast for serious esports followers, and creator-driven energy for fans who engage more through personality than gameplay. He said they wanted to show “a glimpse of what we’re bringing in the future,” a format where entertainment comes first and competition runs right alongside it.

The most interesting shift they made was allowing fans not only to compete against creators but also to play alongside them. For India, where fandom is deeply tied to personalities, this removes a long-standing barrier. It turns creators into competitive leaders, players into community members, and casual viewers into participants. The blend positions esports not just as sport but as mass entertainment, something that fits naturally into India’s broader entertainment culture.

A LAN blueprint built for India

Anyone who has worked in Indian esports knows that LAN events here come with their own set of challenges. Venues vary in capability, connectivity can be unpredictable, and scaling events across cities can get expensive quickly. But Charlie sees these as manageable differences rather than roadblocks. In his view, India already has strong broadcast talent and access to advanced production technology; it just needs a more structured, scalable approach to bring it together.

JioBLAST’s early strategy reflects this thinking. Their first outing sits inside GamingCon, serving as an anchor stage within a larger event. But the long-term plan is far more expansive. They want to run independent, large-scale events in arenas like the Dome and NESCO, and eventually replicate that experience across multiple cities. The infrastructure will be modular, meaning it can be set up, scaled, and transported more efficiently.

The biggest move, however, is planned for 2026. JioBLAST intends to build a permanent esports studio in Mumbai, one modeled on BLAST’s studios in Copenhagen, Malta, and Berlin but tailored to Indian needs. Charlie envisions it not only as a broadcast hub but also as a space where creators, students, and future broadcast professionals can learn and build skills. It will anchor India’s esports calendar and finally give the ecosystem a home it has lacked for years.

Engineering a true amateur-to-pro pathway

A recurring problem in Indian esports is the missing middle. The top tier gets visibility, but the amateur segment struggles to find structured opportunities. Many players grind endlessly but hit a ceiling quickly because the progression system is fragmented. Charlie believes this is where JioBLAST can make a real difference by creating a proper funnel that brings together mass participation and high-level competition.

He compared the model to the London Marathon: a single event where thousands participate, but the world’s best also compete at the top level. For JioBLAST, this means building formats where open qualifiers feed into creator-led events, which then feed into professional stages—all within one cohesive ecosystem. The idea is to let everyday gamers experience the thrill of playing inside the same IP as the pros while still giving top-tier players the competitive rigor they need.

Charlie believes that LAN events are essential in this journey. “You can’t be a super fan without going to a LAN,” he said, explaining how the live experience transforms casual viewers into lifelong loyalists. Once players and fans attend a well-crafted LAN, the ecosystem gains depth, personality, and emotion; elements that often get lost in purely online formats. This is how a real grassroots-to-pro pathway starts to take shape.

Part 2: Expanding the ecosystem

Monetization beyond sponsorships

Most Indian esports ventures have historically struggled with sustainability. Many depend heavily on sponsorships, and when a title loses momentum or a brand steps away, entire circuits collapse. Charlie looks at monetization differently. He believes that India is on the verge of a structural shift thanks to the upcoming online gaming bill, which will finally bring legal clarity and improve publisher confidence.

According to him, once the bill settles, publishers will invest more aggressively in India over the next two years. That shift alone can reshape the entire market. He sees a future where multiple major titles—four, five, maybe even seven—have the kind of competitive circuits that BGMI currently enjoys. When publishers commit, ecosystems grow. And when ecosystems grow, monetization options expand beyond sponsorships.

JioBLAST’s own revenue model reflects this long-term thinking. They are focusing on infrastructure, creator-driven shows, cloud-powered formats, and multi-title divisions. The goal is to build a system that can adapt even when games rise or fall in popularity. Instead of tying everything to one title, they want to anchor the ecosystem in platforms, production capability, and wide-reaching IPs that stay relevant regardless of game cycles.

Mobile-first but not mobile-only

India’s gaming heartland is undeniably mobile. But Charlie sees strong potential for PC esports too, especially because titles like Valorant and Counter-Strike already have passionate communities here. Thanks to BLAST’s global presence in PC esports, JioBLAST is uniquely positioned to bridge Indian teams and players into international ecosystems.

One interesting pathway he highlighted is cloud gaming. JioGames’ cloud push can bring PC-like experiences to players who do not have expensive hardware. While Charlie admits cloud gaming is not ready for hypercompetitive formats yet, he believes it is perfect for broadening participation. It is an entry point; an easy, affordable way for players to experience competitive PC titles without needing a gaming PC.

This approach can dramatically widen the player base for PC esports. With more players trying the games, more talent emerges, and more communities build around them. It sets up the long-term growth of PC titles in a country currently dominated by mobile, without forcing a direct shift or expecting players to upgrade their hardware immediately.

The 2028 picture: More games, more fans, more pathways

Toward the end of our conversation, I asked Charlie what India’s esports scene could realistically look like by 2028 if everything goes according to plan. His forecast was optimistic but not unrealistic. He believes India will have several full-fledged ecosystems, not just a single game carrying the entire competitive load. Much like how global esports is distributed across multiple titles, India could see four to seven major competitive circuits operating side by side.

What stood out was his view that these games will not compete with each other for dominance. Instead, as he put it, the whole market will rise together. When publishers invest, when formats expand, and when infrastructure solidifies, the audience does not split—it grows. Fans follow multiple games, not just one, and the ecosystem becomes more resilient against fluctuations in a single title.

He also emphasized that some of the major games of 2028 may not even be big in India today. As publishers gain confidence, more global titles will look at India seriously, and some could explode in popularity practically overnight. With JioBLAST’s infrastructure, creator ecosystem, and LAN roadmap in place, India will finally be ready to support such growth—professionally, technically, and creatively.

Takeaway

JioBLAST is not just trying to run tournaments. It is building the scaffolding for India’s next era of esports: an era that blends creators and competitors, anchors events in world-class production, and gives everyday players a real path to grow. With plans for permanent studios, scalable LAN formats, multi-title ecosystems, and cloud-enabled participation, the strategy aims to solve problems that have held Indian esports back for years.

If the vision unfolds as intended, 2026 will mark the beginning of a new chapter, and 2028 could be the year India finally moves from potential to reality. More games. More pathways. More fans. More creators woven into competition. And a culture of esports that reflects the way India loves to watch, play, and celebrate its heroes.

It is a bold plan, but the kind bold ideas often come from. And if JioBLAST lands it right, this could be the moment India’s gaming scene levels up for good.