Before PUBG Mobile, India’s favourite mid-core mobile games were Clash of Clans and Clash of Kings. Clash of Clans had millions of players in India and even though the player base for the game has certainly decreased in the past few years, it still has a very prominent presence in India.
One of the main reasons for the game’s immense success was the ability to form clans (after all it is called Clash of Clans). The clans made players engage with each other and the game. It is not a game where you play solo and maybe tell your friends the next day about how it went. You talk with friends, devise strategies, see who to promote in the clan ranks and which clan to attack. It requires communication and strategy to win clan wars. Players, not only in India but across the world, rallied their friends to play the game and form a strong clan.
This just contributed to the game’s growth and a constant flow of new content by Supercell accelerated that process.
The mass strategy based genre is something that holds immense potential in India- as a game and as an esports title as well. One of the games looking to utilize this potential is Lords Mobile.
Lords Mobile is a real-time strategy MMO game developed by ‘I Got Games’ with many aspects similar to Clash of Clans. It has over 200 million downloads worldwide and 17 million of them have come from India alone. The game has hundreds of thousands of daily gamers in India and a thriving community as well.
Just like Clash of Clans, Lords Mobile allows users to form “guilds”. These guilds allow players to earn different achievements together and also battle against other guilds. Winning these guild wars requires effective communication by the guild members, teamwork and individual strategy which adds more thrill to the game play experience.
The active Lords Mobile community is the main reason why this game undoubtedly has a bright future in India. The community is committed to growing the player base within India, organizing meet-ups, competitions, giving out goodies and more. It takes one quick look at the Facebook group of Lords Mobile India to reach this conclusion.
Just recently, a cosplay competition was also announced with a prize pool of over ₹25K. The competition has been organized in the Facebook group of Lords Mobile India and anyone can participate by sending their pictures in the group. In addition, a Lords Mobile mega event has been scheduled on May 12 in Hyderabad as well. Hyderabad has seen a number of such events in the past. More information about this can be found here.
The intensity with which this community supports itself cannot be boasted by any other game in India. Sure, PUBG Mobile has more competitions in a single day but that game also has millions of daily players in India alone.
Esports is another prospect Lords Mobile is looking to dive in. The game does have international esports tournament with a $30K one being held last year. In India, companies like the United Gamers Hideout along with fan communities like Lords Mobile India are looking to replicate this. They are planning to organize competitive tournaments with attractive prize pools within the country on a National level. The recent boon of mobile esports in India will certainly make this initiative a success if it is implemented correctly.
About The Author
Wasif is an esports/gaming journalist and writer who closely follows competitive gaming and other popular video games. He loves writing and is published on a number of sites. You can reach him on his Twitter account.