BLAST announces partnership with Reliance

Through a post on X, renown tournament organizer BLAST has announced a partnership with RISE Worldwide Limited, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance. BLAST mentions that the partnership aims to accelerate the growth of esports across the region. "The JV’s (Joint Venture) ambition is to attract top tier titles and events in the future" says RISE Worldwide in their press release.

While the partnership focuses on esports in general, the titles involved in potential IPs are yet to be revealed. RISE Worldwide mentions Valve in the opening paragraph of their press release alongside other game publishers like Epic Games, Riot Games, KRAFTON and Ubisoft hinting that Counter-Strike could also be on the cards. Both will work together to 'operate and create market leading IPs in India and bring leading global IPs of BLAST to India for fans, players and brands' as per their announcement.

... By partnering with Reliance, a market leader with unparalleled expertise and reach in India, we have a unique opportunity to elevate the local esports scene to new heights.
Robbie Douek, CEO, BLAST

This isn't the first time BLAST has ventured into the Indian markets. BLAST gave a show match slot to the winner of DreamHack Hyderabad 2023 and in 2024 they teamed up with NODWIN to host a India-Pakistan Counter-Strike tournament called The DRAFT in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The DRAFT was set to return for a second season, but no further updates have been put out by BLAST or NODWIN regarding the same but their new venture with Reliance might open the doors for some high profile Counter-Strike IPs in India.

In their press release, RISE Worldwide have listed out some areas where their venture with BLAST would cater to:

• Services to publishers and sponsors

• End-to-end tournament management

• Targeted marketing

• Production and broadcasting