Karan Pathak vs. Danny Engels: The BMPS 2025 Debate That Indian Esports Didn’t Expect
BMPS 2025 opened to empty seats and criticism. Krafton India’s response sparked debate on esports growth and fan culture in India.
On July 4, curtains raised for what supposed to be one of India’s biggest esports events ever, BMPS 2025. With ₹4 crore prize money, and held at super fancy Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in Delhi, everyone thought it will be grand. This venue can hold 6,000 people, it’s really huge. But reality on Day 1 was something else.
Instead of crowd cheering and packed seats, people saw lots of empty chairs. On X (which used to be Twitter), @letsgrowesports posted, “There was barely any audience today #BMPS2025,” and this one got quite viral. But what really added heat to this talk was when Danny Engels from Team Vitality said, “India is a massive gaming/influencer market, but esports not so much... You can’t just copy/paste esports from one region to another.”
This comment kind of hit the nail. It reflected the thing many people inside the Indian esports already knew but don’t say loudly. Esports here still didn’t got that strong fan culture needed to fill big LAN events, especially when big-name teams isn’t playing.
When Underdogs Shine But Seats Remain Empty
Big reason for that dull audience? The popular teams like Soul, GodLike, Revenant XSpark were not qualified for finals. Instead, new and underdog teams got into the LAN for first time. From competition view, this is good, fair and square. But the crowd here follows names and faces, not teams. So no big creators, no big hype.
In other countries, fans still support teams even if players change. But in India, fandom depends more on who’s famous, not who’s winning. So despite having lights, stage, huge money, the seats was almost empty. That tells something; maybe audience is not connecting with the story being told.
The Unexpected Response from Krafton India
Now here is where it got more interesting. Karan Pathak, who is Associate Director of Esports at Krafton India, uploaded a reel on Instagram just few hours after Engels’ tweet. That reel had a big crowd from some earlier event and a caption saying, “The Indian market is not just huge but growing rapidly. Learn and know more about us before commenting.”
He didn’t say anyone’s name, but the timing was way too perfect to ignore. Many felt it was a reply to Engels. For someone in that senior post, this was a bit unusual. In global companies, this kind of feedback is usually answered by PR teams, not with cryptic Insta posts.
And this created confusion. Was it just community engagement or personal response? When a leader reacts in this way, the message of the brand becomes unclear. Pathak is a respected guy, no doubt, and has worked hard on BGMI esports. But reactions from top officials have to be careful and mature.
Criticism Was Inevitable But The Response Raised Eyebrows
To be clear, Karan Pathak didn’t directly name or reply to anyone. While the post came not long after a widely shared comment by Danny Engels, Director of Esports Operations at Team Vitality, there was no actual mention of him.
But no matter what the intention was, the issue is in how it was said. When someone like Pathak, who handles esports operations at Krafton India, responds in an indirect and emotional way on Instagram, it makes the brand messaging unclear. In industries aiming for global scale, criticism is normal, especially if it’s coming from someone with worldwide experience. The response, if there is one, should be done through proper channels, not via vague social media posts.
Krafton India, after putting in major efforts to grow BGMI’s esports side, could’ve taken a chance to explain their direction, share insights, or just let the event speak for itself. But what actually happened gave off a sense of defensiveness when what was really needed was steady leadership.
Leadership Must Set the Standard for Accountability
Indian esports still growing. Feedback from names like Engels, who has built scenes in Europe, should not be seen as attack. Instead, it should push us to ask: why crowd didn’t turn up even with ₹4 crore at stake? What can we fix before next day?
The Real Issue: Misalignment Between Hype and Execution
The empty seats on Day 1 wasn’t just bad luck. It was result of wrong planning somewhere. Maybe the format left out popular teams. Maybe the marketing didn’t reach the right people. But something missed the mark. Because esports is not only prize pool or fancy camera work. It is about the people, fans, players, emotions.
If that part isn’t working, even the biggest events will feel cold. India has all the ingredients: gamers, passion, love for BGMI. But the esports scene here must grow with its community. Accept feedback. Learn from it. Don’t react defensively.
What happened on Day 1 can be a missed chance. Or it can be the exact moment where Indian esports takes a step back, and grows better.
