It would not be an exaggeration to credit BGMI and PUBG Mobile for bringing esports to the mainstream in India. Many were introduced to phrases like competitive scene, gaming community, and more, courtesy of the rise of Krafton-backed battle royale games in India.
Team SouL manager Siddhant "Sid" Joshi, who has previously managed TSM Entity, was recently asked about supporting New State as Battlegrounds Mobile India is not equivalent to esports. S8UL Sid agreed to remark that BGMI is not esports and replied as follows:
"Obviously, I focus on Pokémon (Unite) and New State teams. I miss BGMI because of my emotional connection with the team we created. I have not felt that connection with New State, i.e., neither with the players nor with the scene. The same goes for Pokémon."
He continued:
"You can say I feel a slight disconnect with the teams, which will improve with time. The connection I had with BGMI (or PUBG Mobile) for the last two or three years, it's hard to move on to something else quickly."
"Don't prove them right": Sid's advice to the audience of S8UL and Team SouL
Many GodLike Esports fans got furious when some content creators of Orangutan called them the most toxic. Team SouL fans also took offense when one of the creators named them as toxic besides GodL's audience. One viewer told S8UL Sid about the same, to which he responded:
"I don't disagree with him. A part of the SouL audience is a little bit toxic. They are passionate about the CCs (content creators) that they follow. For example, if someone criticizes a creator like MortaL or Scout, their fans will bombard the critic with hate."
Team SouL's manager continued:
"One thing that we can do better is, guys if you (fans) feel bad when someone calls you toxic, don't prove them right by actually going there and hurling expletives at them. I think when somebody says you are toxic, try to prove them wrong by showering them with love."
For those unaware, last week, Orangutan uploaded a video on its YouTube channel that featured four of the organization's content creators. All of them were asked various questions, but the one related to the "most toxic fanbase" received a lot of attention.
GodLike Esports' star Abhijeet "Ghatak" Andhare had previously reacted to the controversy and asked the fans not to worry about the same.