With the ban lifted in May 2023, BGMI has brought new life to the Indian gaming community with several tournaments already lineup and an increase in streamers' viewership. BGMI has started to bring back brands with Skyesports closing six brand deals within a week of the relaunch of BGMI. Speaking about the return of the game and the importance of BGMI to the Indian esports scene, the CEO of KRAFTON Inc. India had a few words to share.

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Krafton and Stakeholders To Revive Indian Esports Scene Post BGMI Launch

Here is what Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of KRAFTON Inc. India, told ET via email:

"We encourage and support 3rd party tournament organizers to actively engage with their own BGMI esports events and are actively engaging with other stakeholders to foster growth. In the coming year, we are focused on providing players from various backgrounds, including both professional-level competitors and gaming enthusiasts, a variety of tournaments and curated events... Currently, we do not have plans to send players to PUBG Mobile Global eSports Events."

 

Krafton is focusing on improving the hold of BGMI in India before making India a part of International events and stakeholders expect substantial growth in FY24. Shiva Nandy claims that Skyesports' yearly revenue will grow three-fold to four-fold in FY24, whereas Loco's founder Suresh expects them to hit $20 Million in Annual Recurring Revenue by the end of FY24.

Last year, the Indian Government blocked BGMI under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000. The speculations were that the game might endanger national security and relations with foreign states. However, Krafton and the Government have not explicitly stated the reason for the ban.

In May 2023, the Indian Government lifted the ban from BGMI on a trial basis for three months to ensure the game didn't violate any law. The game came back with several changes, including restricting playtime to six hours and changing the blood color to green. 

Skyesports Championship 2024 is scheduled to kick off in a couple of days and teams from all across the globe have landed in Mumbai to participate in the $300,000 prize pool event. The Championship is divided into various stages and the players will play in a 'semi-LAN' environment from their hotel, Taj Lands End.  Social media erupted as players expressed disappointment on their social handles concerning the condition of the practice rooms. Soon, social media was abuzz with video footage of questionable equipment. 

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CS2 Players and Teams Disappointed With Skyesports Championship 2024

Initial reactions to their arrival at the Mumbai event were largely positive. Bleed Head Coach Kassad praised the hospitality and deemed it sufficiently efficient for a Tier 1 Tournament. Skyesports was praised for their efficient management and the Indian Gaming Community was quite excited to see an event of this scale taking place in the heart of Mumbai. Things, sadly, turned sour as footage from players' setup rooms and growing electricity and network concerns began to overshadow the event. 

The Skyesports Championship 2024 will start today with the following teams taking part in the competition: 

• Aurora Gaming
• AMKAL Esports
• BetBoom Team
• Bleed Esports
• DMS
• ENCE
• Eternal Fire
• Parivision
• Revenant Esports
• The MongolZ
• 3DMAX
• True Rippers Esports

After the Playoffs are over, the teams will move to a LAN setting, where they will compete for a prize pool of $300,000 and the title of champions. The last two days will be a single-elimination bracket and the teams will have to give it their all to make the most of the opportunity they are given. 

Things took an ugly turn for Suraj "Neyoo" Majumdar when a clip from his recent livestream, where he was abusing a minor, went viral. Due to his action, fans demanded Carnival Gaming release Neyoo, and today, Carnival Gaming shared a farewell post on their social media. Carnival Gaming hasn't issued any statement on the incident and took the action silently. Neyoo has already apologised for his actions, but since the issue is sensitive, he might have to face some serious repercussions. 

Deepika Narayan, a social activist, raised her voice against Neyoo and demanded serious action against him. YouTube India has reverted back by stating that they will look into the matter, and many fans are also demanding that the Mumbai Police take legal action against him. 

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Carnival Gaming Cut Ties With Neyoo After His Derogatory Remarks Towards A Minor

Neyoo is a renowned BGMI creator who has competed in PUBG Mobile and BGMI esports professionally and has represented India. While fans have applauded Neyoo for his esports feats, Neyoo is infamous for his derogatory actions. In a recent livestream, Neyoo was video chatting with random users on a platform similar to Omegle. During his livestream, one of the random users was a minor girl who directed racial slurs towards Neyoo, where he said to have "lost his calm" and abused the minor girl with derogatory remarks. 

A clip highlighting the incident went viral, with renowned social activist Deepika Narayan resharing the clip and requesting the concerned authorities to take strict action against him. YouTube India replied to the clip and stated that they would look into it, that they would take all these matters very seriously, and that they would take strict action against him. After the clip went viral, Neyoo stated that he lost his calm over the racial slurs and later apologised for his actions as well. 

After almost two days of the incident, Carnival Gaming parted ways with Neyoo, and it is rumoured that legal actions might be taken against Neyoo. Prior to Neyoo's incident, Shikha Matrey, popularly known as Kunwari Begum, went to jail after her clip went viral, where she was promoting methods to abuse infants sexually. Deepika raised her voice against her, and a few days later, she was arrested by Ghaziabad police. 

Ex GodLike Esports athlete, and current Carnival Gaming content creator, Suraj "Neyoo" Majumdar has found himself in deep trouble after a clip of him abusing a minor went viral on social media. In the video, Neyoo is seen abusing a minor who is asking him "Why are you black" and using racial slurs against him. 

The video clip shows Neyoo being aggressively abusive towards her and her family. The video went viral on Twitter and people started tagging Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, a social worker, who has been vocal about abuse against both genders.

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Carnival Gaming Member Neyoo in Trouble After Abusing Minor

Deepika shared some details about the YouTuber and the audience started asking her to dig a bit deeper into the controversy, mentioning that he has had a problematic past and has been verbally abusive towards kids, women and his fellow gamers. In the following tweets, she said that she has no personal agenda against anyone, and she is not after gamers, but is just pointing out the abuse that people are engaging in. She said: 

For all those from the gaming community coming at me after this - I don't have any personal grudges with him but highlighted the abuse which he uttered on a stream. I understand there are many like him. Equal condemnation for them too.

I am not the authority to take all of these abusive men/women to task. I have filed FIR in one case and I shall pursue that to try to bring a change to the abusive filth that's being put on @YouTubeIndia in the name of gaming content. You can also file a case if you've been victims of them.

At least try and report them to authorities. I can't go after everyone.

Thanks.

A lot of players and stakeholders of the community have now come forward and pointed out Neyoo's past behaviour and called it shameful. However, since then, Neyoo has released an apology and gave a reason for why he "lost his calm" on a minor. 

Ankit Panth, a veteran esports athlete also spoke about the matter and tried explaining that abuse is never the solution online, and one has to be calm when they are faced with people who are trying to pull them down. He also quoted it with an example: 

YouTube has also acknowledged the matter and said that they will look into the matter. The Google-owned platform also mentioned that they take all these matters very seriously and will take strict action against him. 

After a long wait, Krafton finally shared a sneak peek of PUBG Mobile Version 3.3 on its social media pages. Alongside the sneak peek from Krafton, fans also got some leaks about the upcoming PUBG Mobile 3.3 update, which will feature a new themed mode, a new Point of Interest, a Trident weapon, and some structural changes that will be coming to the map of Erangel.

Since Krafton has teased the PUBG Mobile Version 3.3, the update should be out in July. The teaser hints towards the addition of a new themed mode, with some updates coming to the Metro Royale, WOW and Payload mode.

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Krafton Teased The New Atlantis Mode In The Upcoming PUBG Mobile 3.3 Update

The upcoming PUBG Mobile 3.3 update will come with a new themed mode, the Atlantis Mode. In the Atlantis Mode, Erangel will get the sunken city of Atlantis called the Deep Island, which will be present between the Water City and Ruins and Novorepnoye. Since the themed mode is about the underwater city, players can go under the water and grab the level-three loot with their teammates. With the Atlantis Mode, players will get a new Point of Interest, the Ocean Palace. 

Ocean Palace will come with level-three loot, and players can find the new Trident weapon. Players can equip the Trident to create tornadoes and use them against an enemy to inflict damage, lifting and throwing them away. The Atlantis Mode will also feature a flying StingRay, which will be available as the ground loot, where players can ride on the back of the StingRay and travel across the map. Players will be able to use their weapons while riding on the StingRay. 

Apart from the themed mode, Krafton might bring some changes to the already existing Metro Royale, WOW Mode, and Payload mode. The map of Erangel could also see some structural changes, as some of the locations might see some adjustments. One such location could be Mylta, where the developers will be adding a few more houses with some structural changes to the location. 

New Fortnite links hint at a new Fortnite x Metallica collaboration. The collaboration with the rock band is slated to go live on June 13, 2024, with a lot of in-game additions. Additionally, the collaboration will be seen in multiple games like Battle Royale, LEGO Fortnite and Rocket Racing. A credible leaker, NotPaloleaks revealed the details of the new update and was backed by HYPEX, who also holds a lot of credibilities with Fortnite leaks. Here is what we know so far. 

Fortnite x Metallica Releasing Soon

According to the leaks, there would be a lot of great additions to the game. These would be spread across multiple games. This is not the first that Fortnite would be collaborating with one of the biggest artists in the world. In the past, they have collaborated with Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish. Here is what to expect from the update: 

• Outfits + LEGO Outfits
• Battle Royale Concert
• New POI: New Loot Island
• Fortnite Rocket Racing
• Fortnite Festival Season 4 Pass
• New Mythic Weapon

Players will get to see in-game cosmetics like skins, weapons, outfits, new vehicles and a new season 4 pass, which will give players even more rewards. One of the greatest things about this collaboration is that the players will get to visit the in-game concert, which will have six songs by Metallica. If one has to make a wild guess about the songs that will get added to the update, it is widely speculated that the songs from 72 seasons will be played at the concert with a lot of new things for the fans. 

As far as the release date of the update is concerned, the Fortnite Festival Season 3 is ending on June 13, 2024, and after a bit of system maintenance, the game will begin rolling out the update for players to download.