RISE Worldwide (RISE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (Reliance), and BLAST Esports (BLAST), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BLAST ApS, today announced an agreement to form a joint venture to conduct esports business in India.

India is the fastest growing gaming market with a massive gamer base of more than ~600 Mn (18% of the total gamers globally). India's gaming market is projected to grow at a CAGR of ~19% to reach US$ 9.2 Bn by 2029 from US$ 3.8 Bn in 2024. The global esports market is expected to grow to US$ 16.7 Bn by 2033 from US$ 2.8Bn in 2024, exhibiting a CAGR of ~22%. India esports market is in nascent stages and is expected to be a high growth market. The Government of India has officially recognized esports in the country by declaring it as a part of the 'multi-sports event' category.

The strategic partnership will help to accelerate this growth by bringing BLAST's globally recognised esports properties and production techniques to India while co-creating new tournament IPs tailored to the fast-growing gaming market.

BLAST is a European-based esports entertainment company and one of the biggest tournament organisers in the world. BLAST works with the world's best game publishers and brands to elevate their properties into world-class esports experiences. These events unite top-tier teams and the biggest stars in the scene as they compete for glory and multi-million dollar prize pools, with arena stops in 2025 set for vibrant cities like London, Singapore, Austin, and Rio. BLAST is known for its unparalleled production quality and game changing fan-first moments. BLAST events are forecasted to generate 2 billion views in 2025, reach global audiences in 150+ territories and broadcast in 30+ languages.

BLAST currently works with leading game publishers such as Epic Games, Valve, Riot Games, KRAFTON and Ubisoft to produce, market and deliver esports for popular titles in Rocket League, Fortnite, Rainbow Six, PUBG, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 - with all titles having a combined active monthly player base of 350+ million. BLAST is best known for its unparalleled production quality and game changing fan-first moments. Bringing together the best teams and biggest superstars to fight it out for glory and multi-million dollar prize pools.

The strategic partnership will form a new JV entity and it will bring together BLAST's esports media production expertise, publisher relationships, wide suite of highly popular IPs, and Jio's technology expertise, unparalleled distribution reach, and local relationships to host these events on the JioGames platform for sustainable growth and innovation in the industry.