“Inclusion in Asian Games 2022 is helping change negative perception about esports”: Jogesh Lulla, COO of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment Pvt Ltd

The inclusion of esports as a medal even in the 2022 Asian Games is nothing less than a landmark in the history of the video games industry.

Now, finally recognized by appropriate sporting bodies, many market leaders believe that South Asia’s esports and video games market will achieve new heights in the coming years and create a plethora of career opportunities.

In a conversation with Abhishek Mallick of Sportskeeda Esports, Jogesh Lulla, COO of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment Pvt Ltd, opened up on the importance of this inclusion, the future of the video games market in India, and the expectations behind Cornerstone’s collaboration with GodLike Esports.

Here is an excerpt of the interview.

Q. Sir, to start off, I would love to hear a bit about yourself, how you got started, and what your experience has been so far in the field of sports, entertainment, and talent management.

Jogesh: I spent the initial years of my career in the PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) space. My focus, post-degree, was in Computer Technology from Purdue University, where I worked with databases in the US for a while, helping companies manage their product development lifecycle.

After that, I worked in the “instant messaging security” space and built networking and knowledge-sharing portals for doctors before switching back to the PLM space.

It was, I think, in 2014 when the digital space in India began to boom, and it was then that Bunty (my colleague) and I decided to partner and see what we could do in this space, and that was how Cornerstone was created.

I started by personally managing the social media profiles for Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shikhar Dhawan to monetize their digital presence. They were some of the fastest-growing Facebook accounts in the country at the time, and we realized very quickly that social media should be used as a platform to build presence and to give fans what they want.

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Q. A profession in esports and video games is often stigmatized and looked down upon in India. With Cornerstone now representing some of the top content creators in the nation, like Kronten, Ghatak, and Jonathan, what is your personal take on the industry, and how lucrative do you feel it is as a career option today?

Jogesh: The rapid growth of the esports industry has made a career in the field a very attractive option. Until a year or so ago, if you thought of esports, the only profile that came to mind was that of a professional gamer or streamer.

With the industry growing, there are many different job options available like agents, managers, tournament organizers, lawyers, etc.

Due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, esports registered greater traction and viewership, which introduced a completely new audience to the industry. Additionally, seeing the potential to earn money from tournament winnings, content streaming, and sponsorships has made people realize that this can be a lucrative career option.

The value that Cornerstone brings in from its understanding of the traditional sporting space and how important it is for these talented athletes to monetize themselves in the present help set them up for financial stability once their playing careers end.

The presence of role models such as Kronten, Ghatak, and Jonathan helps youngsters understand the career path as esports athletes. It takes hard work and dedication to reach the top of any discipline, and that goes for esports as well.

Being an esports athlete is no different from being a professional athlete.

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Q. What are your thoughts on the growth that the Indian esports and video games market has had over the last couple of years? Where do you see it in the next five years?

Jogesh: Already valued at INR 3 billion in FY2021, the industry is forecasted to reach INR 11 billion by FY2025, as per an EY Report, and is expected to grow at 46% CAGR over the next four years.

Many international professional teams are noticing the potential and are now looking to enter the Indian video games market. Currently, the esports prize pool in India accounts for around 0.6% of the global prize pool and is expected to grow to INR 1 billion in the next four years, which will still be only about 2% of the total.

These are signs of a rapidly growing industry with tremendous prospects, which will require a lot of support in all functions of the sport to develop. It is bound to lead to many job opportunities and investment in the space, considering the immense room available to grow.

The coming years will be valuable periods of growth and engagement for the esports industry, and the future looks exceptionally bright.

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Q. Mobile and PC gaming traditionally have a massive gap regarding popularity and community participation in India. Titles like Battlegrounds Mobile India and Free Fire have made the platform incredibly popular. However, Riot Games’ Valorant has, to an extent, revitalized the PC market in the region. Do you see a time shortly where PC can catch up to the popularity of mobile games?

Jogesh: PC gaming and esports in India are growing steadily. There will always be interest and appreciation for PC gaming in India, and Valorant has genuinely taken the country by storm in a concise time frame.

With an increase in disposable income, PC components, gaming laptops, and gaming peripherals have become more affordable by the day. Brands actively investing in the ever-growing esports ecosystem are slowly but surely helping nurture the PC market in India.

It also has brought many talented individuals/esports athletes into the limelight. Soon, there will be a day where we see emerging teams have the right opportunity and resources to rival top global teams.

However, this is a mobile-first market for a reason, and rather than fighting it, we need to embrace it. Mobile esports is also “esports” at the end of the day.

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Q. What are your thoughts on the development of intellectual properties, especially when it comes to helping talents in video games gain proper representation for their craft and brand recognition?

Jogesh: The development of intellectual properties is an integral part of growing any sport. We could use examples of some of the biggest IPs created in India, such as IPL, ISL, and Pro Kabbadi League.

These IPs have provided top-tier opportunities to youngsters from different walks of life and a platform for them to turn their dreams into reality. We strongly believe that such IPs would help esports athletes as well.

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Q. What would you say are some of the biggest challenges video game streamers and content creators face today? What are some viable solutions to mitigate these issues?

Jogesh: Since the esports industry is still in its nascent stages in India, there is a lack of infrastructure, like formal training facilities, standardized policy framework, recognized career path from grassroots to international tournaments, etc.

A professional esports player’s career path is also relatively short, as most players retire in their mid to late twenties. Inadequate financial support/sponsorship is one of the biggest challenges these streamers and content creators face.

Corporate sponsors have only recently started engaging with esports teams, but most large corporate sponsors are still not active in this space. By venturing into the gaming and esports industry, Cornerstone aims to do its part by exposing non-endemic brands to the ever-growing market of video game live streaming and content creation.

We believe that the target audiences and engagement enjoyed by professional gamers, streamers, and content creators are something no brand — endemic or non-endemic — will be able to ignore for too long.

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Q. With esports finally becoming a medal event in the 2022Asian Games, how significant would you say this step is in helping video games be recognized as a more mainstream sporting event, like traditional sports, in South Asia?

Jogesh: There are three critical requirements for any sport to grow. The first is accessibility to the right infrastructure to both train and compete. The second is having the right platform to compete and gain visibility, and the third is recognition by the appropriate sporting bodies.

The inclusion of esports in the Asian Games as a medal event has taken care of the third point and is also helping change the negative perception about esports while making it a mainstream sport in South Asia.

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Q. Cornerstone Sports has recently brought GodLike Esports under its banner, becoming their exclusive representatives. Talk to us a bit about this collaboration, along with the thoughts and expectations that went behind it.

Jogesh: We have monitored the esports space for a few years now and have been waiting for the right time to enter the market.

GodLike is one of the most successful esports teams in the country. They have established rosters across three games, BGMI, CoDM, and Free Fire, and all three sides have performed exceptionally well.

When we spoke to Kronten, founder of GodLIke, and understood his ambition and vision for the org as well as the development of the esports industry in India, it resonated with us. As an organization, we like to partner with and/or represent people who have a similar goal.

Godlike checked all the boxes regarding their focus on growth, brand building, and a keen interest in growing the esports ecosystem. Our thought process is simple. We like to partner with the right people and grow with them.

We believe that this collaboration was the perfect step while entering the esports industry.

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Q. What plans does Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment Pvt Ltd have for 2022? Especially in terms of investment, revenue generation, esports, franchise leagues, and signing new players/teams.

Jogesh: 2022 is going to be a big year for Cornerstone Esports. We have a lineup of five large intellectual properties that will start rolling early next year. We are exploring the global expansion of our esports operations as well.

We are looking to collaborate with international teams to enter India. Beyond that, we seek to expand our roster and add more professional gamers, teams, and content creators from various titles.