Pocket Aces' Loco inks content deal with global esports major Fnatic

Pocket Aces’ live game streaming app Loco has announced a long-term partnership with global esports organisation, Fnatic. The partnership is believed to reinforce the organisations’ shared vision of building a thriving esports ecosystem in the country and to build content around the same.

They have also announced the ‘Fnatic Rising’ program which is a talent hunt for the next big PUBG mobile star.

As part of the partnership, Loco will onboard Fnatic India’s entire roster onto the app (which include some of India’s leading streamers and gamers) who will broadcast exclusive content on Loco. The partnership will see exclusive content made around the players and their stories. The players will also be live streaming on the platform.

However, this isn’t an exclusive streaming partnership. The two will co-create unique esports content together, which includes multiple tournaments and non-fiction shows.

Sam Mathews

Sam Mathews, Founder and Chairman of Fnatic believes India presents a unique opportunity for the esports brand with the market dominated by mobile gamers.

The two companies believe that the esports content is in a nascent stage and the coming together of two organisations with strong content pedigree will deliver unparalleled entertainment to gaming fans in India.

Ashwin Suresh

Commenting on this partnership Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, Founders, Pocket Aces said, “Fnatic and Pocket Aces share a common vision of building a sustainable esports ecosystem in India. We want to provide Indian esports and gaming fans, world-class gaming entertainment across formats and this partnership will ensure that this shared vision is realised very soon.”

Nimish Raut

Nimish Raut, Fnatic Lead, India, said, “We believe that esports has the potential to be the top form of entertainment in this country and these shared thoughts make Pocket Aces and Loco the perfect partner as we seek to level-up the content play in India.”

Anirudh Pandita

Talking about the branded content opportunities for Loco, Pandita said, “Brand placements is a revenue source. Globally brands like KFC or BMW have done amazing work in this space while meaningfully participating in esports. In India, we have signed a few advertisers for Loco, which will be seen soon, who are from the phone category and FMCG as well. In fact, brands from the Financial Institutions have also shown greater interest.”

In the last few months, Loco has seen a surge in streamer signups which has been 50x more than expected. Apart from this, it also has hosted an exclusive partnership with another esports giant - Skyesports for a ‘Grandslam Tournament’ across five game titles.

The association between Fnatic and Loco started early April this year, for a PUBG Mobile charity tournament called #GamingForGood that witnessed a total viewership of 5.8M.