Vitality, a well-known French esports organization, has been talking about a possible expansion to India and it appears the day has come when it made public a teaser with the title “Bonjour India" on its Instagram and Facebook handles.
Since November 2019, people have been talking about Vitality joining India’s emerging esports landscape. There was a report revealing a EUR 14 million investment Rewired.gg has poured into the expansion to India and China. In February 2020, Nicolas Maurer – Team Vitality CEO, also talked about their plans to enter India.
Here is what he said in an interview:
Now, these rumors have finally been confirmed when Vitality made public their entry into India’s esports scene on Facebook and Instagram. While there is no doubt now about its plan, the French organization has said nothing on the exact approach it’s going to take.
Maurer said once that they would find influencers and streamers who are well-known in the Indian market. He also hinted at building teams. However, that was before the COVID-19 pandemic and PUBG Mobile being banned in the country.
India has long been the ideal market for esports organizations like Galaxy Racer, Team SoloMid, Fnatic, and Noble Esports. Many of them are still around even when their PUBG Mobile teams are benched by the government ban on PUBG Mobile.
Vitality has a long list of success stories with its international esports teams in Rocket League, League of Legends, Rainbow 6 Siege, and CS:GO. Let’s hope that it can do the same for India’s esports industry.
Vitality has multiple teams competing across Indian and Europe and has amassed a total of $3,151,044 (approximately Rs 23.2 crores) in prize money from 221 tournaments. It's currently the home of over 50 athletes.