Dota 2 and CS:GO being the two most sought after esports title in India, other games are yet to come to the limelight in the country.
However, ESL India and Nodwin Gaming’s KO Fight Night promotes the genre of fighting games into the indigenous esports mix. The third edition of the yearly tournament just concluded its finale with Delhi’s Bhagwant Bhag being crowned as the winner.
The tournament primarily focuses on one on one fighting games like Street Fighter 5 and Mortal Combat. The main focus has been on Super Street Fighter V but according to Nodwin Gaming esports head Anup Dustarkar, games like Mortal Combat could be in the line for upcoming editions.
This year’s qualifiers took place in six cities across India which included Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Guwahati. The initial city stages was done in association with the club Social in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru and with Mocha in Hyderabad and Guwahati which were followed by cafe qualifiers. The winner from each city made it to the grand finals which took place at DLF Cyber Hub, Gurgaon.
The winner of the grand finals, Bhagwant Bhag will represent India at ESL’s Brooklyn Beatdown event in New York on 16 and 17 September which sports prize money of $50,000. Bhag has already applied for the visa and is awaiting the confirmation.