Mobile Premier League acquires GamingMonk to widen esports portfolio

GamingMonk had a registered user base of over 1.3 million users and would augment MPL's efforts in reaching our target audience and engage with its users effectively

Esports and skill gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) said that it has acquired New Delhi-based Esports gaming platform GamingMonk. GamingMonk hosts Esports tournaments across multiple platforms including PC, Console and Mobile. It serves as a launchpad for publishers and a community for gamers creating an integrated ecosystem across Esports, live streaming, and content discovery. 

"GamingMonk’s vision was to change the Esports scenario in India,” said Ashwin Haryani, Co-Founder, GamingMonk. “I strongly believe that our collaboration with MPL will not only help us accomplish our goal, but also transform the way every individual in our country views esports.”

The firms did not reveal the financial details of the transaction. As part of the transaction, MPL has absorbed the complete GamingMonk team. This acquisition will allow MPL to accelerate bringing to market key national, regional, and global tournament IPs. It would allow MPL to develop a full suite of Esports and broadcasting capabilities. This would be anchored by the GamingMonk team's strong track record of leading online and offline eSports tournaments.

 As of April 2021, GamingMonk had a registered user base of over 1.3 million users.

“In our mission to serve gamers in India, GamingMonk will augment our efforts in reaching our target audience and engage with our users effectively,” said Sai Srinivas, co-founder and CEO, MPL. “With the increased consumption of Esports in the last couple of years and it becoming as competitive as any other sport, it gives us immense pleasure to present our users with the best of games to play.”

MPL has also launched Esports Arena, the banner under which the platform will host fortnightly Esports tournaments in some of its marquee games such as Chess, WCC and Pool. Each of these tournaments will carry a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and entry is free for all gamers. MPL will also stream the games on its social media platforms to millions of viewers.

With Esports Arena, MPL aims to take Esports truly to the masses across India, with gaming titles that are smartphone-friendly and can be played on a range of smartphones. With so much untapped talent all over the country, MPL hopes to discover the next Esports champions through Esports Arena.

In four such tournaments conducted for games such as Pool, Chess, and WCC, the number of live stream views has crossed 5 million, with over 70,000 participants registering for the tournaments. Chess grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, along with famous gamers and streamers such as Jonathan Gaming, Gaming Guru, Soul Regaltos, and others were a part of these tournaments.

MPL is Asia’s biggest eSports and mobile gaming platform, with over 70 million users in India and 3.5 million in Indonesia. MPL has worked with numerous game developers and onboarded over 70 games on its platform. It was founded in 2018 by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra. The gaming platform currently employs over 600 personnel with offices in Bengaluru, Pune, Jakarta, and Singapore.