"This community offers enormous potential for growth": Riot Games' Ashish Gupta on the Indian Valorant community

Valorant is currently one of the most popular games in the Indian market. It's safe to say that its playerbase is one of the fastest-growing communities in the gaming market today. To supplement this growth, Riot Games, the developer behind this tactical shooter, is heavily investing in India as well.

Valorant recently saw the arrival of two pieces of Indian-themed content in the game. The first came in the form of an Indian Agent, Varun Batra, also known as Harbor, while the second was the introduction of a brand new map, Lotus. This is possibly the only time in the game when two pieces of content, an Agent and a map, have gone live in Valorant in quick succession. This just goes to show how invested the developers are in watching the Indian community grow as a whole.

Sportskeeda Esports reached out to Mr. Ashish Gupta, the Marketing Lead for Riot Games in India and South Asia for a comment on the same. Here's what he had to say.

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Ashish Gupta speaks about the Indian Valorant community and the gaming market as a whole

Showing that they are heavily investing in the Indian market, Riot Games recently unveiled a Harbor mural in Mumbai along with multiple billboards being put up in several metropolitan cities across the country. The American video game development company strongly believes that the country has a vibrant gaming ecosystem.

Now that esports has been recognized as an official multi-sport event, it opens up many more opportunities for the growth of the gaming industry. At the official unveiling of the artwork, Mr. Ashish Gupta spoke positively about the rapid growth of the Indian gaming community as a whole:

“We are thrilled to unveil this artwork as we celebrate the Indian community’s growing passion for gaming. Given the growing popularity of VALORANT'S newest and first Indian agent, Agent Harbor, we look forward to bringing more hyperlocal experiences that resonate with the country’s diverse and dynamic community in 2023.

The murals and billboards that Riot Games have put up in the country are the company's way of expressing gratitude to the creators and teams that have worked tirelessly behind-the-scenes to make the shooter a major success in India.

"With expressive murals and billboards that form an integral part of this initiative, we wish to express our gratitude to the Indian gaming community, especially the creators and teams who are behind the success of VALORANT in India. We are very optimistic about the growth of the country's gaming community, and look forward to innovating more inclusive, dynamic, and immersive products and experiences for our audiences in India and across the globe.”

When asked about his thoughts on how the Indian community perceived the release of an Indian Agent and an Indian map in Valorant, here's what he had to say:

"It's no secret that India has one of the biggest and fastest-growing gaming markets in the world, and from the outset, we recognised the intense passion that the Indian community has for VALORANT. This community offers enormous potential for growth and we are eager to connect directly with them. It was this idea that led us to curate Harbor and build our presence across the country through localized experiences to reach out to players across India.

Most importantly, the response that the developers received from the country after Harbor went live was phenomenal. This response likely encouraged them to go ahead with the release of Lotus, the shooter title's only Indian map:

"The overwhelming support and love for the first desi agent by India's VALORANT community demonstrates how much gamers in the country value a character that is so deeply rooted in the culture. Since localization is a core component of our player-focused mission, we introduced a map in our latest VALORANT episode titled Lotus. There are elements of traditional Indian architecture and locations that are influenced by step-wells, rock-cut Dravidian architecture, as well as caves in this film."

Based on the players' feedback, the Indian community has greatly appreciated the introduction of both Harbor and Lotus. In fact, there was even an elaborate music video launched alongside Harbor's official in-game release. Adding to his previous comments, Gupta stated:

"With expressive murals and billboards, we wish to express our gratitude to the Indian gaming community, especially the creators and teams who are behind the success of VALORANT in India. By providing localized experiences, we aim to build meaningful relationships with our players and the communities by innovating more inclusive, dynamic, and immersive products and experiences."

In general, it seems like Riot Games is heavily invested in helping the Indian gaming community grow to even greater heights. It'll be interesting to see what kind of plans Riot Games has for the country's community in the near future.