Building An International Esports Platform: Indian Entrepreneur Explains How Dubai Facilitates Expansion

For the longest time, gaming was not perceived as a viable career choice. With the endorsement of web 3.0 technologies that intend to gamify the entire human experience online, competitive gaming or esports is now getting recognised across the globe.

In 2022, Dubai hosted the first edition of its Esports Festival, bringing together gamers and developers - setting the stage for what's to come in the region. One of the many companies leading the esports revolution in India is Gamerji. Founded in 2019 by Ahmedabad-based Soham Thacker, the platform is bridging the gap between professional and amateur gamers through tournaments.

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According to the FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment Report 2022 titled "Tuning into Consumer," the online gaming segment is expected to reach Rs. 153 billion by 2024, making it the fourth largest segment of the Indian M&E sector. Innovations across the metaverse, NFTs, and esports are all contributing to this development.

Building an esports company

Gamerji allows gamers to compete, host matches, communicate, and get recognised for their gaming skills. "Gaming landscape in India has changed drastically. The stakeholders and aspiring gamers are spending more time understanding the gaming industry. This has resulted in fast growth of the sector. Gamerji has had a head start and we have already launched in the Middle East. We are also in the process of rolling out in newer geographies and fresh infusion of capital will help us meet our growth targets ahead of timelines," Soham Thacker said.

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"We wanted to build a place where grassroot tournaments could [help] someone elevate their skills like how conventional sports operate," Thacker told Indiatimes. Gamerji's user base expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic - going from 50,000-60,000 users to almost 600,000-700,000 users in three months. But that has changed after the resumption of everyday normalcy - "you can't have mass of the population 10 hours a day just gaming." About 280,000 gamers now log into Gamerji everyday and the platform has 1.7 million monthly active users.

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Currently, Gamerji hosts tournaments for 24 titles including FIFA, Call Of Duty, Clash Royale, etc. "We also host 500 tournaments for these titles on a daily basis," Thacker added. The platform currently runs a subscription and token-based platform, in addition to making esports a value add on to other platforms. "It is shaping up to be an industry by itself rather than a subset of entertainment."

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When gamers participate in tournaments on Gamerji, they gather "coins" that may be redeemed for brand partner vouchers including Amazon, Zomato, etc., akin to how a credit card reward system works. The app is not available on the Google Play Store because Gamerji began its journey as a Real-Money Gaming (RMG) platform, something not allowed by Google for the longest time. Last year, Google Play conducted a pilot to allow RMG apps on the store in India. Gamerji hopes to make a comeback on Android! For now, the app is available to download from Gamerji's website.

Ease of international expansion

What goes into building a successful esports platform? Soham says that firstly, "a good strong tech to sustain [the platform]" and "secondly, the right set of tools that automate the entire process." Soham Thacker feels India has immense potential for the esports industry to grow. "We still rely on a lot of paperwork and ambiguity," Thacker added while saying that India has a lot of potential to improve the ease of doing business.

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Gamerji has now set its eyes on the MENA region, with the recent introduction of its tournaments in Dubai, a city that Thacker says "welcomes businesses."

"It's easier and more transparent... you can read one page of an article and set up a company there," Thacker said. A major video gaming hub will be set up in Dubai to support the gaming industry (in MENA) that is expected to reach the $5 billion revenue mark by 2025, according to state news agency WAM.

To invite gaming businesses, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), one of the fastest growing free zones in the UAE, has set up a Gaming Centre. DMCC offers gaming and esports licences to members and also offers support to entrepreneurs - levying 0% personal and corporate income tax while offering 100% business ownership, and more.

In the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Gamerji has over 100k+ gamers where 25-30 tournaments take place on a daily basis, bringing together gamers from India and the Middle East. "To do an online business in Dubai, there is no need to setup a separate firm there," Thacker said, while adding that "it's a lot easier to do business there because of transparency in the taxation and laws... Foreign entity needs to take a license from the Department of Economic Development (DED) of the Emirate of Dubai and that's about it."

According to the UAE government portal, to set up a business in a free zone in Dubai, one needs to simply determine the type of legal entity then choose a trade name before applying for a business licence. Once pre-approvals are done and the business is registered, the business owner can begin operations.

Also read: Seeing Rise In Female Gamers, Female-Only Esports Tournaments Are Getting Popular

Thacker also referred to the Dubai Esports Festival, calling it "phenomenal." The Dubai Esports Festival operated in two modes - one to cater to developers and builders who are looking to expand their space and another built for gamers looking for experiential gaming - all supplemented by championships and rewards.

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In the last 12 months, Gamerji has grown from 1M to 4M+ users along with serving tournaments for more than 22 core esports titles. In the future, Gamerji hopes to continue expansion in the MENA region, especially in Dubai. "It's a higher paying market for any company looking to build a revenue generating business." The company is also looking to expand in Southeast Asia over the course of 2023.

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