Galaxy Racer has already unveiled its plans to expand its reach in the Indian region. It has already kicked-things off by signing around 10 Indian content creators and looks to establish itself in the booming esports industry in India. However, the approach it is taking is slightly different from the other orgs as it also plans to be a content house for lifestyle content as well and not just gaming and esports.
We had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Romeo Misao, Country Head, Galaxy Racer India, where he told us about his plans for the org, the way forward, and the initial steps he is taking to ensure Galaxy Racer has a strong foothold in the Indian region right from the beginning. Take a look at the conversation, below:
To start off, could you just tell me what your vision is for Galaxy Racer’s growth in India?
Mr. Romeo Misao: We, of course, started two years ago with an Esports team. We were just known as an Esports Team, even globally, because that’s how we entered the scene. But our vision is, of course, to become one of the powerhouses, when it comes to trans-media houses, which focuses on eSports, gaming and when I say gaming, it’s casual as well. We’re also focusing on entertainment and music, I’ll talk more about that, once we align on some of the questions further. Basically, our vision is to establish ourselves as a very strong, powerful trans-media house that focuses on gaming, entertainment, and anything to do with Esports.
Indian eSports is still very mobile dominated, so do you think there’s scope for Indian Esports to expand into PC and console?
Mr. Romeo Misao: This is a very tricky question, to be honest, as I have worked with publishers in the past, and mobile publishers to be specific.
I, as a gamer, or a consumer, I’m a 90s guy. So, of course, I come from that PC background. My first love is always going to be PC gaming. But having said that, it’s super hard to just go out there, put out a very good title in PC and hope that it gets picked up in a very mobile driven consumer base. It’s super difficult to be honest, and I’m not saying PC won’t do good. But, it will not be as successful as mobile.
I think our whole consuming pattern will have to change for that to happen, and I don’t see that happening immediately. There’s a lot of things that need to change which include an increase in the purchasing power. It’s not just the publishers as well, because there’s a lot of other things like the cost of hardware. And as a whole ecosystem. I think everyone needs to come together for such a change to take place.
But, I do see us pivoting a bit to PC. Last year, we saw a lot of people pick up Valorant lessons. Plus, when we saw the PUBG Mobile ban, we saw all these mobile streamers pivoting towards other titles. I do see maybe a certain amount of change in the consumer behavior. But, I don’t think, we’ll see any change for at least five years.
As you mentioned, Galaxy Racer is not just limited to Esports anymore, as it’s one of the biggest content houses in the world. So, do you plan on signing any new content creators from India, and if you do, could you give me some hints on who it might be?
Mr. Romeo Misao: I cannot give you names or hints just yet. But, yes, we do [plan on signing content creators]. One of our revenue sources is content, and that has a lot to do with content creators both exclusive and non-exclusive. And when I say content creator, it doesn’t always have to be gaming. Of course, gaming is where we started and that’s our first love. But, since we also see content as a whole ecosystem, we cannot ignore lifestyle creators, and then you also have musicians as well. I think, what I can promise you is that you’ll see a whole array of different types of content creators, who’ll be exclusively signed to Galaxy Racer.
From what I know, at least internationally, Galaxy Racer already has a strong foothold in Valorant, PUBG and all the major eSports that India also caters to. The country already has its fair share of popular mobile Esports games in Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and BGMI, which are popping. So in that regard, how does Galaxy Racer plan to fit into the ecosystem that has already existed for some time now?
Mr. Romeo Misao: I think we already have our Esports division – Nigma Galaxy, which pretty much has a very impressive roster globally. I think we also have one of the strongest up and coming BGMI team also. We do have a free Fire roster as well, but since the is currently been banned, there hasn’t been a lot of development on that front.
We have a global vision of housing upcoming Esports superstars, and we want to create the next TI winners just like our founders of Nigma Galaxy. We do believe that Esports is super important for us, and we will slowly expand into other titles. But for now, like we’ve discussed, it’s a mobile dominant market. Even if we do expand to another title, it would probably be another mobile title. But for now, I think there’s a lot to do in the region, and it’s not just about building teams, as there’ll be events and IPs that we’re going to be focusing on collectively as part of our Esports initiatives.
When it comes to India, the past two or three years have seen a number of Esports organizations and companies that have come up with their own tournaments and teams, which has allowed them to have a very strong foothold in the competitive. So, how is Galaxy Racer planning on getting into that competition and make a name for yourself?
Mr. Romeo Misao: Since we’re talking about organizations as a whole, I can just imagine how the eSports ecosystem in India looks, compared to a year ago, So many international organizations are coming up and setting up their local or regional teams, and if you compare them with us, we also have similar initiatives. But I feel like in terms of initiatives specifically for India, we would have large scale exclusive events, which I wish I could reveal. But yeah, there will be more events coming in as part of our Esports roadmap under the NG X Nigma. Galaxy banner, we do still have a pretty strong BGMI lineup, and I think you will be seeing them in action soon. I think they did pretty well recently in most of the events they’ve competed in, and they’ve been like the underdogs, because it’s a new roster. Free Fire, like I said, it’s banned at the moment, so there’s not been a lot of development on that front.
But in terms of initiative, we do plan on continuing our efforts in fostering really good teams. Second, is our exclusive Esports IPs. I think one of the biggest example of that is the Gamers Galaxy IP that we had for DOTA 2, and it was the first LAN for this year, and it had all the best teams in the world. It shows that if we can do that globally, I think we can easily do that in India. Of course, it might not be with DOTA, and it would most probably be BGMI or any other (insert any mobile title), which is doing really great.
Apart from all the mobile games that you would want to focus on in terms of Esports, are there any other titles that Galaxy Racers might want to venture into say FIFA because the Indian contingent recently qualified for the FIFAe Nation Cups and I think that might be a good place to start from?
Mr. Romeo Misao: I think we’ve always done that. Speaking from our Esports division’s perspective, I think we’ve always scouted talents, even when those games are just fairly new, and they’ve started becoming Esports titles in other regions. Even when Fortnite was fairly new, we did sign players from other regions, and that’s our plan here as well. But right now with FIFA, it’s a little tricky, because we need to know how sustainable it is. Esports works like a handshake, and we need to know if the publisher is willing to support the region with a good number of events. If that’s there, then of course, we’ll be there to support players.
What are your initial steps towards establishing Galaxy Racers’ presence in India?
Mr. Romeo Misao: Right now, we are in full hiring spree for a lot of our divisions and departments. So, that just shows that we are pretty committed to not just being known as an Esports organization, but more like a transmedia house. And that being said, I think we also really want to focus on our other verticals, and we’ll be announcing those soon.
I can definitely say we will have a lot of focus on music and entertainment going forward. I think in terms of how gaming as in has evolved, we’ve seen how gamers have have adopted fashion and entertainment very well. You can see the type of collaborations between gamers and I think there’s a lot of potential for organizations like us there. So, I think you’ll see us work in that segment a lot in the coming months.
That’s actually a very interesting point that you’ve said because from what I know, most of the existing content houses in India have a content creator that is focused on streaming, but they stream games primarily. So, when you say that you want to get streamers on board who are into music and entertainment, that’s actually pretty good and it diversifies your portfolio as well.
Mr. Romeo Misao: Yes. I mean when you when you define a gamer, a gamer could be anyone. It could a musician, who enjoys playing God of War. We’ve seen like a hybrid, a new specimen of gamers right now, and we really feel like they need to be seen as much as some of the mobile or PC gamers out there as well. So, we will be focusing a lot on giving these guys a stage or an opportunity to connect with their audience even more.
