Sunil Yadav, CEO of PlayerzPot, sees the online fantasy gaming platform thrive on the ongoing Indian Premier League, and talks of the brand’s #CricketKaBhoot campaign with comedian Kiku Sharda, big focus on card games and the NFT space, as well as challenges before the entire gaming sector.
Tell us about your association with Playerzpot, right from its inception in 2015. How have you seen the brand grow and what would be your major contributions?
My association with PlayerzPot dates to its inception in 2015. Initially, I served as a strategic advisor, providing strategic counsel and advice to the co-founders to build a strong foundation for the gaming company. In April 2019, I joined as the marketing director, to take a more active role. Under my leadership, we developed a core team, instrumented fund-raising and created strategic growth plans. I spearheaded PlayerzPot into casual gaming by launching 15 games such as Rummy, Poker, Carrom, Snakes & Ladders, etc. From 2019, Playerzpot successfully expanded its user fan base from 0.5 million to 10 million in 2022 and the gaming category reported 25x growth.
What sets apart online fantasy gaming platform Playerzpot from the other players? Apart from casual games, are you looking at traditional Indian games?
We always stood out from our competitors by offering various user-enhancing experiences in terms of unique game offerings, quick withdrawal, transparent customer support and user retention policies. We have nine fantasy sports and 15 casual games so far. We have taken users’ and gamers’ intent and launched casual games which were played in our childhood; such games connect well with the audience and they are easily accepted. We analyse user journey, behaviours and the time spent to provide newer offerings that create customer stickiness. We thrive to be exactly like our brand tagline – ‘India Ka Nayya Maidan’ and always focus on innovation. To create growth in skill-based online gaming, we deliberate with influencer and federations to create a cohesive force in upliftment of the Real Money Gaming ecosystem.
How have you set out to enhance the gaming experience of users this IPL season? Please talk of activities like PlayerzPot’s ‘League Leaderboard’ as well as the #CricketKaBhoot campaign with comedian Kiku Sharda. What are your expectations out of IPL 2022?
We have enhanced the user interface-user experience (UI-UX) layout of our app to ensure our users get the best gaming experience this IPL season. We have also offered various ‘no commission’ games, Leaderboard, high bonus utilisation and some free leagues to our existing and new users. The theme of our campaign revolves around the obsession of people with diverse things, one of them being cricket. We roped in popular comedian and television actor Kiku Sharda for the brand commercial, in a funny ‘bhoot’ avatar possessing all cricket fanatics suffering from IPL fever. Adding more fun and excitement to the scene is the cool techie Baba, played by our brand ambassador Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who advises all cricket fans to switch to the PlayerzPot app to enjoy the cricket season. The campaign’s main aim is to entice every household to play fantasy games on our app. Leaderboard is an opportunity for users to win exciting prizes at the end of the season. We are expecting 2.5x revenue growth in fantasy this IPL season.
What are the opportunities before the online gaming industry? What are the roadblocks and challenges?
From just two million players in 2016, the Indian fantasy sports industry has seen the number sky-rocket to over 100 million as per a study by the Federation of the Indian Fantasy Sports in collaboration with KPMG. Also, BCG and Sequoia state that more than 300 million people play mobile games in India, and that the gaming market as a whole grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38% in 2019-2020. We ourselves are growing at more than 100% CAGR.
According to me, online gaming is growing faster and will be more engaging than social media in India. But given that this is a new and emerging industry, we are still under the process of implementing a proper regulatory framework. Platforms operating in India are awaiting clarity about overall compliance and laws by the Government. The policy-makers should involve all the players to transform this industry. One of the primary challenges is promoting and implementing responsible gaming.
Where do you see PlayerzPot three to five years from now?
In the next three to five years, we would be among one of the top fantasy and casual gaming platforms. We plan to launch a portfolio of casual games and become a self-sustaining organization. Our next big focus is on various card games for our users, and we are closely monitoring the NFT space. We are considering to incorporate Metaverse aspects in our technology roadmap and exploring it further, with respect to creating unique selling propositions in the virtual world.
