Gamer community rising in Hyd: iQOO CEO

 Hyderabad: It is not uncommon to see a bunch of youngsters feverishly thumbing their mobiles. The number of gamers is on rise. It certainly makes sense for gaming companies as well as those making the mobiles to hear them.

Smartphone company iQOO, which is part of Vivo group, went ahead and created a post, chief gaming officer. It offered Rs 10 lakh salary for the role that requires him/her to hear the gamer community and use the feedback to better their products. While it got about 60,000 applications for the post from over 500 applications, more than 50% of them are from Hyderabad.

“We are searching for our first-ever GenZ chief gaming officer (CGO), offering a remuneration of Rs 10,00,000 for six months. Hyderabad's response has been phenomenal. Out of 60,000 applications, over 50 per cent of applications are from the city itself,” said Nipun Marya, chief executive officer of iQOO.

 On the focus on the gamer segment, Marya said: “Most of the smartphone brands are focusing on cameras. However, all customers are not the same. This is a large segment of consumers who want big power, zero lagging, great thermals, good haptics and a responsive touch screen. All these are needed whenever you are doing heavy gaming,” he said.

What will the role of CGO be? “The CGO will have access to new hardware. But in terms of responsibilities, we want this person to be the voice of gaming players, both within the company as well as outside. We want this person to take initiatives in the esports space, do meet-and-greet events and come up with new ways to increase user understanding. Also, the person most likely will be a budding e-sport enthusiast. We will support the person's pursuit towards becoming a better e-sport player,” said Marya.

“The company has phones up to Rs 20,000 for casual gamers as well those who watch streaming. It has phones in the Rs 25,000 to Rs 35,000 for those who are interested in heavier battle games, which have extensive graphics. Most gamers are in this segment. Then we have our flagship models in the Rs 50,000-60,000 price points. This segment does not see gaming as the main agenda but performance is key.