In the series of interviews with market leaders, change-makers, and innovators, we bring our next interview with Market Leader & Growth Expert, Abhishek Madhavan, SVP, Growth and Marketing, MPL.
Since the inception of MPL in 2018. How much has the Indian Gaming Market matured in the last 2 years?
These are still very nascent days for the industry. We have seen gaming grow, but there are very few gaming platforms like MPL. Most of the growth has been in the pure-play Fantasy gaming category.
Among numerous E-sports Apps and in such a competitive market, How does MPL differentiate itself?
Our USP is our platform model. We have over 50 games across categories like casual, esports, fantasy. And the kind of growth we have seen, 6 crore+ users in just two years despite being out of the Playstore for more than a year now, is a testament to our model and how well our users have gelled with it. We have something for everyone, here on MPL. Our platform has variety, is easy to use, and has user-friendly features such as unlimited and instant withdrawals and a seamless sign-up and KYC process.
With the Real Money Gaming industry growing exponentially, it comes with its own set of challenges with the regulations and laws of the land. What regulatory changes do you suggest to amplify the growth of Daily Fantasy in India?
Since these are early days, the entire industry needs to come together to figure out this piece of the puzzle.
With IPL 2020 kicking in without crowds and public gathering events, how is it impacting the Fantasy Apps like MPL’s engagement?
MPL is not a Fantasy app. We are a full-fledged gaming platform and thus, our engagement is not contingent upon sports events alone. That being said, we are seeing increased engagement on our fantasy vertical as well as other games. We have also associated with Bigg Boss as presenting sponsor and our strategy is spread out across sports as well as other events and media properties.
We have seen MPL sponsoring a lot of IPL teams. How are these deals helpful for the brand?
The IPL is such a big media property, the largest in the country, that any brand associating with it can become a household name. Both KKR and RCB are top teams and they have a large, dedicated fanbase across the country. Most Indian households watch the IPL and it’s an event that will help our brand grow among the masses.
Retaining first-time users to repeatedly participate on the platform is one of the biggest challenges DFS companies face. How are you addressing it?
As stated earlier, we are not a DFS company. Our retention rate is the best in the industry right now and we put it down to the success of our platform model. On average, every user on MPL plays more than 6 games.
Recently, MPL became a partner of Bigg Boss. How do you plan to leverage this partnership with Bigg Boss?
Bigg Boss is the most-watched reality show in India and has a dedicated audience across age groups. We have a few activities and features planned around the show with our games as well as our audio and video live-streaming and you will know of these soon.
MPL rose to fame in a very quick time. How has been your experience of this rewarding journey?
It’s been a great ride, to say the least. What we have achieved in two years is unprecedented. From being the youngest broadcast sponsors of the IPL last year, signing Virat Kohli as our brand ambassador within months of our founding, and now trusted by over 6 crore users and having onboarded over 70 games on our platform.. This success only makes us hungry for more and we aim to become India’s and the world’s largest gaming platform.
Like E-commerce, Do you see a consolidation of many apps happening in RMG space as well in the next 5 years?
It’s too early to tell as online mobile gaming has just taken off and there’s a long way to go for the industry.
Team Next Big Brand extends heartiest wishes to Abhishek and the amazing team at MPL. Kudos to him for such an amazing and insightful interview.
You can check our other Interviews here.
