Ampverse DMI Outlines Vision for FY’24; Targets Significant Market Leadership Expansion in Indian Gaming Sector
New Delhi, India –June 24 2024 – Ampverse DMI, a joint venture between Ampverse Group,(“Ampverse”) a prominent gaming and entertainment ecosystem with bases across Southeast Asia & India, and DMI Group (“DMI”), a leading Indian financial services platform, announced on Tuesday its FY ’24 plans and expansion roadmap for India.
Ampverse DMI as part of their 2024 plans will launch a comprehensive suite of solutions, including Marketing Solutions for brands and game publishers, and Commerce Products, which will focus on merchandise and e-commerce enabled solutions for gaming communities for the first time in India as part of its 360 degree bouquet services.
Charlie Baillie, Chief Executive Officer of Ampverse Group, states, “Ampverse DMI is dedicated to cultivating a robust and integrated gaming ecosystem spanning owned and operated Gaming & Entertainment Assets, Marketing Solutions and Commerce Products. We are also committed to introducing new IPs and initiatives that resonate within the community building on the success of our debut IP launch College Rivals.” He also highlighted the importance of this expansion saying, “Our experience with global brands like Disney, EA, and McDonald’s gives us a unique view and the ability to innovate in the Indian market. We are excited to bring our knowledge to India and build something special.”
Ampverse DMI brings together the unique strengths of its partners – global entertainment and gaming experience coupled with a deep understanding of the Indian consumer and a capacity to drive on-ground scale. This, along with the combined trust of global leading brands, positions the Company strategically to become a market leader in the Indian gaming industry. Ampverse DMI remains deeply committed to developing a comprehensive ecosystem to catalyse significant advancements in the Indian gaming sector.
Shivashish Chatterjee, Co-Founder DMI Group, said, “Ampverse DMI is set to become a 360-degree, forward-thinking gaming company that integrates IP creation with cutting-edge marketing and commerce solutions. For FY’24, we are committed to building on the success of FY ‘23 and making Ampverse DMI a leading player in India’s esports industry, leveraging our combined international expertise and local strategic partnerships to drive significant value and growth.”
In addition to Marketing Solutions, the Company has innovative commerce products tailored to meet the evolving needs of gamers. This division of the Company will also launch data-driven products and services for gamers including physical merchandise and digital items. These new solutions, coupled with an expansion of the successful launch of its Gaming & Entertainment Assets division with IP College Rivals, ensures that Ampverse DMI is poised to become a market leader in the Indian gaming ecosystem.
About Ampverse DMI
Ampverse, Asia’s largest ecosystem of gaming communities and IPs, has joined forces with DMI Finance in India, forming a strategic joint venture. The primary objective of this partnership is to nurture college talents and bolster the esports ecosystem with never before opportunities in India. Leveraging Ampverse’s expertise in building esports and gaming communities and DMI’s financial prowess, the joint venture aspires to revolutionize the gaming ecosystem in India. They plan to achieve this by developing a series of Esports and gaming IPs, hosting on-ground activations, forging partnerships with influential gaming figures, and establishing mentorship programs to nurture up-and-coming college talent. The first co-developed IP, College Rivals – Esports Series was launched in August 2023. Central to their mission is the idea of fostering inclusivity, diversity, and excellence within the Indian Gaming community. They aim to provide opportunities to a wide range of talents, irrespective of backgrounds or identities, with the goal of empowering the gaming community as a whole.
Read More: The Steel of India Film: Setting the Record Straight
Vibrant Media Bags INR 100 Crore Media Account for Jio-bp
In a three-agency pitch, Mumbai-based Vibrant Media defeated GroupM and Beehive Communications to win Jio-bp’s INR 100 crore media business. Reliance BP Mobility Limited (RBML) is a 51:49 joint venture between Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited and British Petroleum. It was founded in 2021 to run the Jio-bp brand and elevate it to the top of the fuel and mobility markets in India. In October 2023, Reliance Industries’ in-house Vibrant Media hired Madison Media’s chief operating officer, Karthik Lakshminarayan, as Vice President.
Collaboration for energy solutions
BP and RIL announced their collaboration for Jio-bp in 2021. It is among the best suppliers of energy solutions in India, offering a wide network of convenience stores, EV charging stations, fuel, and mobility stations. Jio-bp declared in May of last year that it would be providing high-performance fuel at base prices for the first time in India. It introduced ACTIVE technology into its diesel. The additivised diesel was to be made available at 1,555 petrol pumps, with truckers saving up to INR 1.1 lakh per vehicle per year due to 4.3 percent improved fuel economy.
Read More: UAE Lays Out New Federal Decree-Law for the UAE Media Industry
Vibrant Media bags Jio-bp’s media duties
The joint venture, which operates under the “Jio-bp” brand, hopes to dominate the fuel and mobility markets in India by taking advantage of Reliance’s widespread reach across 21 states and its millions of customers via the Jio digital platform. BP has contributed its vast worldwide experience in premium differentiated fuels, retail, lubricants, and cutting-edge low-carbon mobility solutions. Over the next three years, RBML intends to increase the number of gas stations it currently owns from 2,000 to as many as 5,500. Later this month, a blitz of outdoor, digital, print, and television advertisements is anticipated. In July 2023, Jio-bp gave Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate the digital mandate for the account. Vibrant now has control over this, handling the majority of Reliance brands’ media spending.
Future of India’s fuel market
Over the next 20 years, India’s fuel market is predicted to grow at the fastest rate in the world. This comes with the country’s passenger car population expected to nearly double. Over the next five years, RBML wants to grow its fuel retail network from over 1,400 retail locations to 5,500. Due to this rapid expansion, the number of employees working in service stations will need to increase fourfold. These will grow from 20,000 to 80,000 over this time frame. In the upcoming years, the joint venture also hopes to expand from 30 to 45 airports.
Read More: GroupM Bags INR 200 Crore Domino’s Pizza Account’s Media Mandate
Reliance Industries to Acquire Disney India in a Cash and Stock Deal
Disney’s India division is about to be acquired by Reliance Industries in a cash and stock deal. Instead of splitting up the company, it has chosen to sell its interests in India to Reliance, its main rival. The success of Reliance Industries’ streaming service Jio Cinema has also had an impact on the U.S. company’s business, according to Reliance Industries owner Mukesh Ambani. Disney has been looking into opportunities for selling or partnering with its India-related properties. Additionally, it had discussions with billionaires Kalanithi Maran, owner of Sun TV Network, and Gautam Adani, as well as Blackstone, a private equity firm.
Disney – Reliance Cash and Stock Deal
Instead of the piecemeal transaction previously considered, the American entertainment behemoth may sell a controlling interest in the Disney Star company, which it values at about $10 billion. Reliance, meanwhile, values the assets at $7 billion to $8 billion. The possibilities that Disney was previously considering included the purchase of all of its assets, including sports rights and regional streaming service Disney+ Hotstar, alone or in combination. Some of Reliance’s media divisions might be combined into Disney Star as early as next month, following the announcement of the deal. Additionally, even after any cash and stock transfer deals are finished, Disney is expected to have a small ownership interest. Disney receives broadcast and streaming rights to the IPL competition, a plethora of multilingual TV channels, and an investment in a Bollywood film production firm as part of the transaction, which is essential to the corporation’s global streaming expansion.
Read More: Viacom18 Scores BCCI TV-Media Rights to Broadcast ICT Matches
Disney’s India operations
Star India and the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service make up Disney’s Indian operations. It had the highest user count last year on a global scale. Disney has attempted to turn around the fortunes of its streaming business in India. However, subscriber withdrawals are quickening. Disney is banking that the move will increase advertising revenue. Disney Star has battled with declining subscriber numbers, but the media company has continued to spend and hasn’t given up on the market. Other options for the company have been considered, such as a direct sale or the formation of a joint venture.
Disney subscribers shifting to Jio
Disney’s Hotstar is presently streaming the current cricket World Cup to mobile fans for free in an effort to regain members after losing approximately 20 million subscribers this year. Customers rushed to Jio Cinema since it was a free place to watch IPL games. Nevertheless, Disney has recaptured the world record for on-demand video streaming from Jio Cinema after drawing 35 million concurrent viewers to a cricket match using the Disney streamer app.
Jio Cinema’s rise to popularity
Disney’s streaming activities in India are under increased pressure from Jio Cinema. The negotiations serve as an example of Ambani’s disruption of India’s entertainment sector. It comes after he paid $2.7 billion in 2022 for the streaming rights to the IPL. The cricket event was earlier this year televised for free on the billionaire’s Jio Cinema platform. Then, Reliance achieved another victory when it obtained a multi-year deal to stream HBO programming produced by Warner Bros. Discovery in India. Any potential agreement with Reliance will benefit Viacom18, a joint venture with Paramount Global. Sports has been one of Viacom18’s primary focus areas, and it has developed a strong portfolio there that includes a number of extremely well-liked titles.
Read More: Disney+ Hotstar Amp Brand Outreach With CTV Targeting