Reliance and BLAST have announced a joint venture to operate and create market leading IPs in India and bring leading global IPs of BLAST to India for esports fans, players and brands — via the JioGames platform.

BLAST, a Copenhagen, Denmark based esports tournament organiser and rights holder, works with the world’s biggest game publishers like Epic Games, Valve, Riot Games, KRAFTON and Ubisoft to create leading global esports properties. The JV’s ambition is to attract top tier titles and events in the future to India, a joint media statement from the companies stated earlier this week.

The joint venture between RISE Worldwide, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, and BLAST Esports Limited, will help to accelerate esports’ 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.

India is one of the fastest growing gaming markets with a massive gamer base of more than 600 million (18 percent of the total gamers globally). India’s gaming market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19 percent to reach US$ 9.2 billion by 2029 from US$ 3.8 billion in 2024. The global esports market is expected to grow to US$ 16.7 billion by 2033 from US$ 2.8 billion in 2024, exhibiting a CAGR of 22 percent.

Globally, BLAST 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’s events are forecasted to generate 2 billion views in 2025, reach global audiences in 150+ territories and broadcast in 30+ languages.

The European company’s international gaming partnerships with publishers are all aimed to produce, market and deliver popular titles like 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.

The strategic partnership will form a new JV entity and 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.

Robbie Douek, CEO for BLAST, said in a statement, “India is one of the most exciting and fastest-growing gaming markets in the world, with a rapidly expanding esports audience and appetite for more competitive gaming experiences. By partnering with Reliance, a market leader with unparalleled expertise and reach in India, we have a unique opportunity to elevate the local esports scene to new heights.”

Devang Bhimjyani, Head of Reliance Sports, said, “We are excited to partner with BLAST, which is a leader in conducting world-class esports tournaments globally in partnership with the largest gaming publishers for marquee gaming titles. We are very confident that with this partnership, India esports will be able to realise its full potential.”