

Asia
Meet India’s Esports Athletes who are winning Laurels for the country
Gone are the days when youngsters were told off by their folks for wasting hours e-gaming before a console, PC or mobile. Today, with increasing smartphone penetration and digitization across India, the tables have turned and esports has become a much vide-for profession for both the urban and rural youth. And why not? Because they are not only earning money and fame but also winning laurels for India.
Esports Federation of India has in a way, been partly responsible for the shift in how the Indian youth perceives esports as a profession. The federation pioneered the competitive esports gaming format in India by organising national tournaments such as Nations Cup, National Esports Championship (NESC) and as recently ESFI Ranking Scrims etc. These large-scale platforms have given gamers and streamers an opportunity to showcase their skills and compete domestically and create a name for themselves nationally as well as internationally making a mark while ESFI athletes have been competing in South Asia & upcoming World Championships.
Nothing beats the experience of the Indian tri-colour going up during any medal ceremony. Here are India’s top four esports heroes that are setting the bar high and aspiring many more youngsters to take up esports professionally:
Tirth Mehta (Bronze medal winner in Asian Games 2018)
Esports Title – Hearthstone
Tirth Mehta, a 26-year-old lad from the sleepy town of Bhuj in Gujarat’s Kutch district who won the bronze medal in Hearthstone — a popular online digital collectible card game — at the Esports demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games.
Hearthstone, developed and published by American video game Company, Blizzard Entertainment, has garnered huge interest among online gamers from across Asia, including Japan, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, besides India. The game is a combination of chess and poker, requiring players to have core skills in maths and probability.
The hours Tirth spend depend on whether or not there was an upcoming major tournament. If there isn’t, he usually spend a couple hours a day if there is, he spends between 5 hours to 14 hours a day playing.
Karan Manganani (Placed 4th in Asian Games 2018)
Esports Title – Clash Royale
Karan “jin kazama” Manganani is undoubtedly the best Clash Royale player in India. Karan Manganani, 20, like many other Indians of his generation, plays a lot of video games. He spends five hours a day on average, on his smartphone playing Clash Royale, a chess-like strategy game. Manganani has an easier time explaining his gaming habit to his parents, unlike most others his age, though. His ability to win virtual wars could potentially one day earn India gold at the Olympics.
List of Achievements 2018-20 Clash Royale: –
1. CRL Combine Phase 1 Rank 1
2. CRL Combine Main Event Rank Top 10(Los Angeles)
3. Asian Games 2018 National Champion (2018)
4. Asian Games 2018 Regional Champion (South Asia)
5. Asian Games 2018 Rank 4(All Over Asia)
6. Esl India Premiership 2018-19 Winter Season Champion
7. MGL World Cup Clash Royale 2018(India MVP)
8. World Royale League Clash Royale 2018(India Captain)
9. ESL India Premiership 2019-20 Summer Season Champion
10. World Royale League 2019 Team India (MVP)
Moinuddin Amdani:
Esports Title – PES 2020
Moinuddin started playing in 2012. His love for football motivated him to take up this game. It was initially started as a fun-time hobby like any other gaming individual. His parents are concerned about his career and job security as not every individual turn out to be a successful professional esports player. However, he is yet to break the news about his ambition of getting into full-time video gaming and becoming an esports professional.
Not owning a PlayStation is the biggest challenge for this India No. 1. Even though he plays professionally, he still has to go to a cyber cafe to play the matches as he doesn’t own a machine. He though feels Esports in India is booming but we still have that mindset of playing is a waste of time.
Amdani is targeting nothing short of gold at the upcoming Esports World Championship in Eliat, Israel.
Achievements:
Two-time national champion
Runner up in PES 2017 tournament at IGX
Runner up at Nations Cup held in India
Represented India at the 2019 World Championship 2019
Represented India at E-Masters Asia
Abhinav Tejan
Esports Title – Tekken7
Tejan started playing Tekken when he was around 7-8 years old and used to go to an arcade shop close to his house where he started playing recreationally.
While he started off casually with his friends at the arcade just for fun but right after his graduation from school, he saw an advertisement for a Tekken 6 tournament and he decided to participate and soon good introduced to the Tekken community in India as well. He started joining tournaments since 2010 and during this time there weren’t many tournaments happening and the community was quite a small one. With no official rules and pretty much every tournament having a different rule set all the time and unprofessional attitude at times when prize money were halved or declined-pretty much affected the growth of the game and increasing the popularity of the game.
Tejan feels getting a sponsor in India for a game which is not that popular is really hard, he has been trying to get the sponsors attention for many years now by staying at the number 1 position in India in Tekken and even placing top 3 in the international tournament but he is still without sponsors and at times even if sponsors are there Visa availability becomes an issue.
Achievements:
Current national champion
1st position in Dreamhack Delhi 2018 and 2019
3rd position SEA Major TWT 2018
4th position IESF 2018 Kaohsiung
9th position EVO Japan 2020
These young guns have set the ball rolling to make esports in India the most coveted profession with every tournament won and make India proud on winning the medals at national and international championships.
Asia
Macau Government Extends Lottery Concession of Macau Slot Until 5 June 2026

The Macau government has extended the lottery concession of Macau Slot Co Ltd for one year until 5 June 2026.
The concession renewal was published in the official gazette on Wednesday. Further extensions may be granted, subject to mutual agreement between the Macau government and Macau Slot.
As part of the renewal terms, Macau Slot is required to gradually reduce its number of non-resident employees and actively collaborate with the government to recruit and retain local talent.
Earlier this month, the government held a meeting with Macau Slot representatives to discuss the extension. According to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), the city’s industry regulator, Macau Slot committed to cutting 35% of its non-local, non-skilled workforce—equivalent to 26 positions—by the first quarter of 2026. The company also pledged to make further reductions to its foreign labour quota in the future. Currently, non-local staff account for 15% of the total workforce at Macau Slot.
“Over the past year, despite fluctuations in the macroeconomic environment and slower economic recovery in neighbouring regions, the local economy has remained relatively stable under the guidance of the Macau SAR government’s policies,” Macau Slot said in a statement.
“Looking ahead, we are committed to further diversifying our sports betting products to meet customer demand, while upgrading our information technology infrastructure to stay current and deliver more comprehensive sports betting services.”
The post Macau Government Extends Lottery Concession of Macau Slot Until 5 June 2026 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
QTech Games strengthens its elite suite with Bigpot Gaming

Emerging-markets leader expands its all-encompassing library with exciting new slots portfolio
The post QTech Games strengthens its elite suite with Bigpot Gaming appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
Polemos Announces Partnership with Guinevere Capital

Polemos, a Web3 gaming infrastructure platform, has announced a strategic partnership with Guinevere Capital, a prominent esports and gaming investment firm known for its investments and advisory roles in projects such as GiantX, iTero, Perion, Skybox and various other projects across the industry. Guinevere Capital has established a strong reputation for its work across global Web2 gaming titles, including League of Legends, Valorant, Rocket League and many more. This partnership aims to leverage the combined expertise of Polemos.io and Guinevere Capital to enhance and further monetise audiences across publishers, infrastructure players, gaming companies, studios and platforms.
The collaboration will focus on integrating advanced asset management and engagement tools from Polemos.io’s Forge platform with Guinevere Capital’s extensive network and experience in both Web2 and esports ecosystems. This will create new monetisation opportunities and improve player experiences by bridging traditional gaming with blockchain-enabled innovations.
Carl Wilgenbus, CEO of Polemos.io, said: “Partnering with Guinevere Capital marks a significant milestone in our mission to expand access to gaming rewards and unlock new revenue streams for the entire gaming industry. Together, we will empower publishers and studios to better engage their audiences and capitalize on the evolving landscape of gaming and esports.”
“Polemos has built an impressive piece of infrastructure that has plugged a huge gap in the gaming sector. We look forward to working with them to commercialise this,” said Dave Harris, a partner at Guinevere Capital.
Dave’s previous experience includes investing in and operating top teams and leagues in the Riot Games and Activision Blizzard ecosystems.
Guinevere Capital’s strategic involvement will accelerate the adoption of blockchain gaming infrastructure while supporting the growth of esports and gaming communities worldwide. This alliance underscores a shared vision to drive innovation, education and monetisation in the gaming sector by combining Web2’s reach with Web3’s potential.
The post Polemos Announces Partnership with Guinevere Capital appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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