ROG Academy Has Played A Key Role In Establishing A Pool Of Credible E-Sports Players in India : Arnold Su

Ruhail Amin Apr 22, 2022

On the back of this development, the ROG Academy is a first-of-a-kind unique initiative by Asus to empower and enable potential professional gamers to conquer competitions in the booming e-sports industry.

We spoke to Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer and Gaming PC, System Business Group, ASUS India, on how ROG Acacdemy is trying to make a difference and more.

What is ROG academy and how is it making a difference?

Today, the Indian e-sports industry is growing at a rapid pace and ASUS ROG has been at the forefront of this revolution from the beginning playing an instrumental role in building a robust e-sports ecosystem and community in India. Each initiative by ASUS ROG is tailored to guide, mentor and challenge the rising talents in the industry with the correct infrastructure to help them develop the skill set necessary to compete on a national and global scale.

The ROG Academy is a first-of-a-kind unique initiative introduced to empower and enable potential professional gamers to conquer competitions in the booming e-sports industry. ROG Academy has played a key role in establishing a pool of credible e-sports players in India and paves the way for next-generation gamers by providing access to world-class resources, mentorship, and training. ASUS aims to bridge the gap between India and other established global counterparts such as South Korea, China, Europe, and North America by giving aspiring e-sports athletes new prospects and exposure to hone their skills while boosting their career opportunities through adequate training that enables them to up their game and compete in world-class tournaments.

Four seasons and four teams later, what has the response been like?

With more than 7,000 entries from across the nation over the four seasons, ASUS continues its journey to empower every rising expert player by providing them with a platform that makes e-sports a reality for them. In the past four seasons, we have had the pleasure of working with 24 rising e-sports players and we have learned as much from them as they have from us. In fact, some of the players from previous seasons are today actively participating in the tournaments across the country and making a mark by battling with some remarkable teams. Other players, having already experienced the highest level, are now moving on to grow in their own specific career paths.

The biggest learning is recognizing the correct method to reach out to the right set of audiences who need the platform more than others by understanding the current requirements of the players building solutions to support them at each stage. ASUS will continue to explore future possibilities for scaling this program further to bolster the e-sports ecosystem in India.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

One of the biggest challenges we have to overcome is building a team out of the final 6 shortlisted participants within just 3 months, as the try-outs are more focused on maximizing an individual's potential. it's not always easy to determine whether the individual players will be able to get together as a unit. Therefore, establishing synergy and finding the right playstyle that everyone is comfortable with is always the biggest challenge. Especially today, when the players are not able to come together in person and practice in close proximity. At around the two-month mark is when their synergy is truly optimized, leaving the third month to reap the benefits of their hard work.

How has the training style/curriculum adapted over time?

Every coach brings in something unique and they adapt to the player’s strengths and weaknesses. The basics of the curriculum remain the same over the seasons - concepts like map control, rotations, executions, retakes, utility management, and information gathering stand the test of time and form the foundation of further studies.

The advanced concepts of the curriculum change according to the meta of the game. Every time a new agent is added to the game or a new patch is released, we make sure to experiment with the new additions as much as we can, and as early as possible so we can get the early mover advantage over the other teams.

Season 1 was introduced with CS: GO as its official title. However, as Valorant swiftly became one of the top games in various tournaments in India, ROG academy took things to a new level and expanded its existing portfolio to encompass games from various genres and commenced the second season with Valorant. Therefore, with Valorant as its official title in seasons 2,3 and 4, the coaching and training strategies had to be revised be to more fluid and focused on basics such as trigger discipline, communication, aim, and setups. The idea is to find a common starting point for the players and then work on their strengths to form a strong core.

How are the teams faring today?

Our primary focus has always been to give enough room to the players in order to experiment and make mistakes so that they can learn and grow with the program. The approach is never to compare or pressurized them to beat teams and players who have been part of the e-sports arena and have much more experience than them.

In the previous seasons, ROG Academy managed to establish itself as one of the top 6 Indian teams in several tournaments like TEC Gauntlet and Sky e-sports Showdown and have shown a 60%+ win rate in scrims across all seasons, which is an appreciative rate for a ROG Academy team.

In fact, in season 4, the team won the Valorant Nimbus’22 tournament and reached the quarterfinals of the Valorant Level Up series. The team has shown promise, winning maps against top-tier Indian teams like the Valorant Conquerors Championships.

In the gaming arena, Velocity Gaming and Global E-sports are regarded as the two best teams in South Asia, and ROG Academy fought them both during the VCC. While the ROG team did not win the series, they took maps off them and made the titans bleed, even though ROG Academy team was barely a few months old in the community.

What’s the roadmap looking like for ASUS ROG in 2022? What more can e-sports enthusiasts look forward to from the initiatives this year?

ROG Academy aims to train their teams to realize their full potential and be at the absolute top of the Indian Valorant scene and arm with knowledge that will allow them to start competing in pan-Asia tournaments.

ROG Academy teams have the potential to make the top Indian teams sweat, in 2022, we are optimistic to leap forward and reach the number one spot.

For a more 360-degree approach, ASUS ROG has also taken an initiative to organise special guest sessions by industry experts to share their expertise with the Academy participants. We recently conducted a ROG Master class with Shobith Rai, popularly known as Tbone in the gaming community and one of India's top Valorant squads, Velocity Gaming.

Additionally, our strategic impetus is to find ways to integrate the program with inputs from our global teams and partners to make it an even more comprehensive experience for the players.

Future of Indian e-sports market in the next 5 years, role ASUS ROG’s initiatives look to play in the same?

The Indian e-sports segment has witnessed exponential growth over the last decade. Today, India has more than 200 million e-gamers playing across more than 20 platforms. According to the media and entertainment report 2022, the online gaming segment is expected to reach INR153 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 15% to become the fourth largest segment of the Indian M&E sector, driven by innovations across NFTs, the metaverse, and e-sports. Infact, the number of E-sports players doubled from 300,000 in 2020 to 600,000 in 2021 and e-sports revenue grew by 29% from INR7.5 billion in 2020 to INR9.7 billion in 2021. ASUS ROG Academy looks forward to support and provide a platform for the ever-increasing e-sports players in the Indian community and creating a pool of credible e-sports players in India, training them and familiarizing them with future opportunities in this landscape.

We are optimistic that in the next five years, the growth of e-sports will generate huge demand, extra income and competition in terms of audience and sponsorship. The industry is already witnessing an increase in the degree of fan involvement and the audience growth-rate is quite fast. ROG Academy aims to move the needle and give a boost to the e-sports ecosystem to create a culture of competitive e-sports and elevate the industry.

Tell us about the ASUS’ growth in gaming laptop segment in India?

The PC penetration in India is still below 10% and that gives us a good opportunity to grow our business and numbers. The market is growing exponentially and it is the biggest market in the entire Asia Pacific. From 2015 to 2021, the market size of the gaming segment in India has grown by almost 20 times. Apart from this, the traditional consumer segment is also becoming more important with the launch of thin and light laptops which now covers 80% of the market. Other series like 2-in-1 and creator series have also grown over the last 2-3 years. In the past few years, with the support of our ASUS community, we are already the leading brand for the gaming segment in India. We have been able to grow and become one of the leading consumer brands as well.