Careers, cult followings, coming-of-age angst — PUBG’s brave new world
Careers, cult followings, and coming-of-age angst mean PUBG is not all fun and games for its biggest stars — the likes of Naman 'Mortal' Mathur, Abhijeet 'Ghatak' Andhare, and Tanmay 'Scout' singh
Professional players such as Naman Mathur, Abhijeet Andhare and Tanmay Singh double up as cult of personalities, with millions of followers hanging on their every word.
The KD Jadhav indoor hall at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi stadium is never short on quality sporting action. Last November, Mary Kom won a record sixth world title here. PV Sindhu competed two months later and Sushil Kumar is a regular at the venue, named after an Indian wrestling great. Three weeks ago, the aforementioned Olympic medallists were outdrawn by a bunch of youngsters playing PUBG on their phones.
Esports is knocking on the Olympic door. And while the battle royale game itself wouldn’t make the cut due to its ‘violent’ nature, a footfall of 25,000+ over five days (including fans willing to shell out Rs 3,000 for VIP passes) signifies there’s both a market and a talent pool of gamers. But what about those at the forefront of this revolution?
Professional players such as Naman Mathur, Abhijeet Andhare and Tanmay Singh double up as cult of personalities, with millions of followers hanging on their every word. Streaming for hours, battling trolls, talking trash, competing with the world’s finest; all the while setting an example for their impressionable young audience. It all comes with the territory, and this bunch of twenty-somethings is learning on the job. All they want is to be able to walk down the street unrecognized, and for people to call them sportspersons.
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