With gaming and e-sports now rivaling traditional media in both scale and influence, brands are no longer on the sidelines, they’re right in the game. From immersive in-game ads to strategic partnerships with top streamers and tournaments, marketers are experimenting with new formats to capture the attention of digital-native audiences. But cracking this space isn’t just about visibility—it’s about relevance, culture, and trust. We spoke with industry leaders to understand how brands can meaningfully connect with this rapidly evolving community.
Lokesh Suji, Director, ESFI
“Young audiences don’t just watch esports, they live it. Brands that succeed in this space are the ones that understand the ecosystem, show up authentically, and contribute to the gaming experience without disrupting it. It is about building meaningful associations that resonate with the community. When brands respect the culture, work with the ecosystem, and commit to long-term plans, the connections they build are far deeper and lasting.”
Shantanu Bhattacharya, Chief Client Officer, LS Digital
“India’s gaming audience is over 157 million, with almost half being female, largely Gen Z, and many from non-metros. That shows it’s not just a niche anymore; it’s part of Gen Z culture. What really makes brand presence effective is that this audience can’t be reached through major channels alone. You need media innovation, not just media plans: in-game integrations, sponsorships, livestream partnerships, offline activations, programmatic via gaming ad networks, and influencer collabs. Partnering with them gives brands access to a passionate, loyal, digitally fluent audience — a far cry from passive banner impressions. The real win comes when brands don’t just enter the space but embed themselves into the community — turning presence into participation and campaigns into cultural relevance.”
Nimish Raut, Global Head Esports, NODWIN Gaming
Gaming and esports have emerged as dynamic environments where next-gen audiences engage deeply, spend time socially, and form strong community bonds. Advertisers are beginning to recognize this potential, exploring integrations like branded in-game items, livestream sponsorships, and collaborations with individual creators or teams. Yet, these efforts often remain surface-level.
One of the key challenges is a limited understanding of gaming behavior and community culture. Traditional measurement tools don’t reflect how players engage across platforms like Discord, Twitch, or within the game itself. A 16-year-old might spend hours daily immersed in Valorant or BGMI, chatting with peers and following creator-led tournaments, but that engagement is rarely captured in standard social media metrics. As a result, many brand campaigns miss the mark, not due to lack of intent, but due to a lack of contextual fluency.
Globally, brands have found ways to break through by building immersive, culturally aligned experiences. Gucci’s Roblox collaboration and Fortnite’s Nike Airphoria activation are examples of how brands can design native, interactive worlds that feel less like advertising and more like play. These campaigns earned attention not through scale alone, but because they respected the format and the audience.
In India, evolution is ongoing. We’ve seen firsthand how deeper, insight-driven integrations can drive both credibility and community alignment. Take BGMS Season 4, for example. In partnership with OnePlus, we are debuting the OnePlus BGMI Ranking System, a performance-based, data-driven framework that aims to bring more structure and transparency to the Indian esports ecosystem. This is not just a campaign; it’s an investment into the competitive fabric of the gaming community. By offering rankings based on weighted metrics like kills, knockouts, placements, and podium finishes, the system adds credibility, consistency, and depth to the viewing experience. More importantly, it seamlessly blends into the ecosystem, built with the community, for the community and something players and fans have been asking for. It’s a great example of a brand not just showing up, but shaping the narrative in a meaningful way.
To build an effective presence in gaming and esports, brands need to approach the space as a long-term cultural investment. Campaigns perform best when they align with the values and humor of the gaming community, when they feel earned rather than inserted. Creator collaborations have also been found to resonate significantly more because they were built in partnership with gamers, not around them.
Success depends on going beyond short-term reach goals and thinking in terms of relevance, resonance, and relationship-building. When brands make the effort to truly understand the ecosystem, how people talk, play, and connect, they open the door to lasting influence within one of the most engaged audiences today.
Vatsal Bhardwaj, Founder of Jabali.ai.
“Games are the greatest form of self-expression and the highest engagement of any media. Gen Z crave authenticity, exploration and self-expression. In fact, 90% of GenZ today play games and watch gaming related content.
Yet, brands are completely mis-allocating their budget by overspending on traditional or non-gaming digital media Vs. games. They can’t be blamed as the technical, and logistical hurdles to create, publish games to tell their own brand stories are so high. It’s even harder with slower deal making and complicated engineering integrations to work with existing game publishers.
Generative AI changes all of this. The unlock for brands is to tell their story through its interactive stories and games. Jabali is building and leading the way for that future. Brands today can upload their brand assets and create games and stories from it in less than 15minutes, no coding required!”
Jaydeep Chakravartty, Gaming Consultant, Self Employed
Advertisers and media agencies engage next-gen audiences through gaming and e-sports by integrating brands into live streams, virtual worlds, and interactive in-game experiences. They use influencer partnerships, branded skins, and tournaments to build engagement. A truly effective presence enhances the gaming experience—offering value like rewards, exclusive content, or story-driven activations—while staying authentic, non-intrusive, and aligned with gamer culture and community values.
