- Mobile game maker iCandy Interactive (ICI) has a foot in the door of the Indian gaming market through its investee company, ESPL (Esports Player League)
- ESPL has teamed up with Indian mobile gaming company Paytm First Games
- Together, the companies will build up an eSports gaming platform for India
- iCandy’s founder Kin Wai Lau helped co-found ESPL, with iCandy currently holding a 35 per cent interest in the company
- The Paytm partnership is still in early stages, meaning the financial benefit is still unknown
- Shares in iCandy are currently trading 19.1 per cent higher at 2.5 cents each
Mobile game developer iCandy Interactive (ICI) is getting an indirect foot into the Indian gaming market through its investee company Esports Player League (ESPL).
ESPL dropped the news on Wednesday it had teamed up with Indian online and mobile gaming platform Paytm First Games. Through the partnership, the two companies will work together to build up ESPL’s eSports tournament platform in India.
iCandy has a 35 per cent interest in ESPL, meaning it’s in place to bag some of the potential benefits from the new partnership.
However, iCandy told shareholders this is still an early-stage partnership, meaning it’s unlikely to have any material impact to ESPL or iCandy revenue streams just yet. On the reverse side, the partnership carries no expenses to ESPL.
“Accordingly, the materiality of this revenue is currently unknown, and iCandy is currently unable to reasonably project or quantify the financial impact of this partnership on iCandy,” iCandy told shareholders this morning.
Tournament building
Paytm First Games currently runs a mobile-based gaming platform with a strong focus on fantasy sports and arcade games.
According to ESPL, Paytm saw 200 per cent growth over the month of March, with 75,000 new users joining the platform each day.
Now, with the ESPL partnership, the Paytm platform will be able to offer mobile and online tournaments, lock in some partnership and sponsorship deals, and create a roadmap for amateur gamers to go professional.
ESPL CEO Michael Broda said the company can’t think of a better-positioned partner than Paytm to gain a foothold in the Indian mobile gaming market.
“India has over 1.2 billion mobile games and will roll out 5G connectivity in 2020, making the country a key market for ESPL’s rapidly expanding network of amateur esports tournaments that create a bedroom-to-champion pathway for online gamers,” Michael said.
Paytm Chief Operating Officer Sudhanshu Gupta said the demand for mobile gaming tournaments is even stronger in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown.
“As malls, movie theatres and popular hangout options shut down temporarily in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, online gaming is picking up as a popular option for stay at home entertainment,” Sudhanshu said.
“This partnership will help us to launch the unique esports tournaments in India that will further expand the online gaming landscape in India,” he said.
iCandy’s founder Kin Wai Lau is one of the co-founders of ESPL.
On the back of today’s news, iCandy shares have gained 19.1 per cent, worth 2.5 cents each at lunchtime AEST.