Aditya ChaudhuriReckoning Esports has entered India’s first franchised esports league — the Skyesports Masters CS:GO. The Mumbai-based esports organisation is set to field one of the eight franchised teams competing for a share of the ?2cr prize pool in India’s biggest gaming tournament.
Reckoning Esports will be signing a five-man roster for the Skyesports Masters. The Reckoning Esports CS:GO team will be picking up two players from the open-for-all Skyesports cafe qualifiers, which are happening across 20 cities in the country. Registrations for the cafe qualifiers are currently live on the official Skyesports Masters website.
Sharang Naicker, Founder, Reckoning Esports, commented:
“The Skyesports Masters CS:GO is an amazing initiative by Shiva [Nandy] and is a league which looks out for the teams to generate profit or at least break even. The format is very exciting and will truly help in reviving the CS:GO industry of the country. The long-term vision of Reckoning Esports for the first-person title is to make a team that competes at the highest level in the region as well as becomes a representative for South Asia in global tournaments.“
Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO, Skyesports, commented:
“When I pitched the idea to Sharang [Naicker] about a franchised league which looks at scouting talent from the grassroots, he was immediately onboard. I have immense respect for organisations like Reckoning Esports which believe in picking up rising talent and giving them a chance to compete. I look forward to associating with them in the long term and reviving Counter-Strike in India.“
The Skyesports Masters, with its franchised format and grassroots-level cafe qualifiers, is aligned with the vision of Reckoning Esports to give underdog athletes a chance to excel. The organisation believes in an extensive scouting process for all its esports rosters, and the cafe qualifier programme allows Reckoning to do just that.
The Skyesports Masters is set to begin on July 1 with an exhilarating league stage which will happen until August 17. From here, the top four teams will advance to the Skyesports Masters Playoffs, which will be an on-ground LAN event scheduled for August 26 and 27. With a total prize pool of ?2 crore, a lot is on the line for the eight teams competing in the tournament.
