Behind every popularity there is a story to tell and it’s no exception for the popular Harpreet Singh “RonaK ” Janjuha, an Indian PUBG Mobile/BGMI player who currently plays for Skylightz Gaming. He is an esports athlete as well as an influencer with 285k followers on Instagram and 385k subscribers on YouTube.
Like any other pro-gamer, his journey also started with casual playtime with friends. In conversation with AnimationXpress, RonaK shared, “I used to play PUBG/BGMI with a lot with my friends, and I was really good at it. That’s when I thought of giving this a go, and fortunately, things worked out for me. I started my professional journey with Team SouL.”
He has been passionate about gaming and esports. When he had the opportunity to take it to the next level and opt it as a career he didn’t think twice. “The love for the game in itself was my inspiration,” RonaK shared.
He also enjoys playing games like Valorant, CS:GO and some hyper-casual games from time to time. RonaK might be a popular esports athlete but his daily life schedule is pretty much similar to any gamer as he claims, “My day starts like any other gamer, which is later than usual. Mostly I end up practicing and playing scrims or tournaments the entire day. If I get some free time I end up going out with friends and family for movies or to roam around.”
He has been observing the growth of the Indian esports industry which has been outstanding. “The standard of playing across different games has reached an incredible level. The industry is producing some great talents. It is only going to get better from here,” he added.
He also shared that his experience with Skylightz Gaming so far has been ‘fantastic’. “I have a great synergy with my teammates. We share the same goals, work hard together, and have a lot of fun. The management has also done an excellent job in providing us with the right opportunities,” RonaK shared.
He likes to take things one day at a time and doesn’t have a fixed practice schedule. For 2022 his personal and team goals are the same – “Competing at the highest level, winning tournaments, and representing India.”
In respect to opportunities and exposure he shared that athletes are getting opportunities to grow bigger in India. The burgeoning number of teams, streaming platforms, high-scale tournaments, recognition, and initiatives by the government, and so on have been helping to form a sustainable infrastructure which will further strengthen the growth of the sector.
Like any industry, the esports and game influencer market has its own challenges too. RonaK expressed, “One of the significant challenges I face as an esports athlete is the hate messages we get from people. But I have learned that it’s important to focus on the positives instead of paying attention to such things.”
In 2021 Skylightz won the title of Battle Ground Mobile India Series which is the first edition of Battlegrounds Mobile India Series (BGIS). The tournament was organized by KRAFTON and was sponsored by iQOO and featured a total prize pool of Rs 1,00,00,000. By winning the title Skylightz Gaming bagged Rs 50,00,000 with The Lone Ranger and The Rampage Freak awards were bagged by Skylightz Gaming player Saumya “Saumraj” Raj.
RonaK shared, “It was a fantastic experience, and it almost felt unreal. I was extremely happy for the team and am proud of them.”
Nowadays, popular influencers like Tanmay Bhatt, Technical Guruji, and so on from all around are shifting towards gaming influencing business so will that affect esports athletes? On this he shared, “The gaming industry is developing rapidly, so naturally, we see popular influencers shift towards gamers. If your content is excellent and relatable, audience engagement and retention will not be challenging.”
Post BGIS ‘ victory, giving tough competition to his opponents and influencing the world, we can’t wait to see what popular esports athlete and influencer RonaK would write in his next chapter for the year 2022 and way ahead.