Pixel P&L: JioBLAST Officially Launches, VALORANT Format Overhaul

Welcome to another Pixel P&L edition. This issue takes 6 minutes to read. If you only have one, here are the 5 most important things:

• JioBLAST officially launches in Mumbai, combining Jio's 480M users with BLAST's tournament expertise.

• Riot Games completely revamps VALORANT esports format for 2026, introduces direct Challengers path to Champions.

• Steam and Riot Games were hit by a massive DDoS attack.

• Mobile Premier League's parent company posts its first annual profit of $4.2M after years of losses.

• Team Vitality's toxicity report reveals 3.6% of esports messages contain hate speech, lower than esports average but worse than football. 

Let's get into it.

Jio's Esports Venture JioBLAST Officially Launches Operations

JioBLAST, a joint venture between Jio, Denmark's BLAST esports company, and RISE Worldwide Limited, has officially commenced operations in Mumbai after its earlier announcement.

The partnership combines Jio's 480 million-user digital network with BLAST's global tournament expertise and RISE's local sports entertainment experience. JioBLAST aims to make esports India's second-largest entertainment category after cricket through premium tournaments and competitive entertainment formats.

The venture cites favorable market conditions, including India's hundreds of millions of gamers and increased investment from international game publishers. The company also referenced India's Online Gaming Bill as supporting industry growth.

Led by Charlie Cowdrey, JioBLAST is targeting Gen Z gamers, describing them as the country's "most powerful and influential audience" driving cultural trends. The company positions itself as an ecosystem enabler supporting publishers, players, brands, and communities.

The Mumbai office is now operational and preparing to launch projects aimed at engaging millions of Indian gamers and commercial partners.

Riot Games Revamps VALORANT Esports With New Global Format

Riot Games unveiled major changes to its 2026 VALORANT Champions Tour, expanding the competitive circuit with new host cities and a more accessible tournament structure.

The season will debut at Masters Santiago in Chile, Latin America's first VCT global event, followed by Masters London and concluding with Champions Shanghai. The first Masters will expand to twelve teams, while the regular season will eliminate group formats for equal match distribution.

The most significant shift introduces the "Challengers Path to Champions," temporarily replacing the Ascension system. Each International League will send four Challengers teams directly to Stage 2 Playoffs, creating an unprecedented route to the world championship. Qualifying teams will receive travel stipends and Champions participants will earn revenue from digital goods sales.

The changes aim to make VCT more globally inclusive and financially sustainable for emerging teams. Riot positions these adjustments as foundational work ahead of a comprehensive structural overhaul planned for 2027, signaling the next evolution of VALORANT's competitive ecosystem.

⚡️Quick Bytes

IGPDA Launches GamingCon Bharat to Showcase Local Gaming Industry

The Indian Game Publishers and Developers Association (IGPDA) will host GamingCon Bharat 2025 in Mumbai on November 29-30, expecting over 10,000 attendees including developers, investors, and policymakers. The event will showcase homegrown titles like Ludo King and FAU-G alongside esports tournaments and industry discussions. Organizers aim to position India as a global gaming hub following the country's new Online Gaming Act.

Major Gaming Platforms Hit by Suspected Record DDoS Attack

Steam and Riot Games experienced widespread outages Sunday evening, with cybersecurity experts attributing the disruptions to the Aisuru botnet. The attack reportedly reached 29.69 terabits per second, shattering the previous 22.2 Tbps record set last month. Thousands of players reported disconnections across Counter-Strike, Valorant, and League of Legends, prompting Riot to disable ranked queues. The Aisuru botnet, controlling approximately 300,000 compromised devices, has repeatedly broken traffic records since its discovery in August 2024.

Team Vitality Report Finds 3.6% of Esports Messages Contain Hate

Team Vitality and Bodyguard released the first French esports toxicity report, analyzing over 57,000 messages across 19 accounts from August through early October. The study found 3.6% contained hate speech, below the 4.2% esports average but above football's 3%. Bodyguard's AI technology blocked over 2,000 toxic messages, protecting 4.5 million followers. Only 10% of messages were positive, compared to 24% in traditional sports.

Mobile Premier League Parent Posts First Annual Profit

M-League, parent of Mobile Premier League, reported $4.2 million net profit for fiscal 2025, its first profitable year, reversing a $44.9 million loss from the prior year. Operating revenue rose 30% to $166.7 million, driven by Europe's 67% growth to $60 million. India contributed 60% of revenue despite new tax headwinds. The results preceded India's recent ban on real-money gaming contests.

⚔️Side Quest

🤣Laugh:

📺 Watch: Can mid-sized game studios still survive? Veteran developers from Assassin's Creed and Far Cry explore the existential crisis facing studios caught between indie scrappiness and AAA budgets. They reveal why the middle is collapsing and what it means for gaming's future. Essential viewing for understanding industry upheaval.Retry

🎮 Play: After struggling with the dated original, the Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter remaster finally got me hooked on the Trails series. A phenomenal 50-hour journey with lovable characters, satisfying battles, and a story that kept me invested despite some predictability. Voice acting is inconsistent and systems need better tutorials, but I'm already excited for Chapter 2.

📚 Read:  Eye-opening data from Circana’s Mat Piscatella reveals only 4% of US gamers buy games monthly, while a third buy nothing at all. A small group of hyper-enthusiast players are essentially sustaining the entire paid gaming industry. Essential context for understanding why studios chase whales and struggle with mid-tier releases.

💡Did You Know

In 2021, a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 made history by selling for $1.56 million, becoming the first video game ever to cross the $1 million threshold at auction. The pristine Nintendo 64 cartridge achieved this groundbreaking milestone through Heritage Auctions, marking a pivotal moment for video game collectibles.

The record came just two days after another Nintendo classic, an unopened copy of The Legend of Zelda, sold for $870,000 at the same auction house. These extraordinary sales reflected the explosive growth of the vintage gaming market in 2021, where rare, factory-sealed cartridges from iconic franchises transformed into highly coveted assets among collectors and investors seeking pieces of gaming history.

📜 Quote of the Day

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up for free here. 

We read every email! Share your feedback by hitting reply.