iWorld
MX Player adds gaming to its offerings
MUMBAI: MX Player brings users a new flavor of entertainment by adding gaming to its existing offerings. The platform has announced its in-app gaming feature that hosts 9 hyper casual, easy to learn HTML 5 Games which viewers can enjoy even without data or internet access on android phones. The games currently available on the platform are Airlift, Arrow Master, Jump Jump, Flap Up, Candy Mash, Bubble Blast, Street Racer, Slide & Glide and Plus Minus
Having launched earlier this year with the promise of providing ‘Everytainment’ – the platform is emerging as the one stop shop for all things entertainment with its best in class offline video playing capabilities, critically acclaimed Original Series, a large online streaming repository of over 200,000 hours of premium content, 20 Million songs powered by Gaana, and its latest addition: gaming.
The app is further enhancing the platform experience by introducing a loyalty program that rewards its core users with ‘MX Coins’. Through this virtual currency, MX users will now get various benefits like Access to premium content; Exclusive benefits and discounts on some of the leading brands like PayTM, Myntra, Oyo, Fasos, Box8, Grofers, Zivame, Cult.fit, ixigo, Zoomcar, 1mg, easemytrip and many more and Participation in game tournaments with the opportunity to win real cash!
MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said, “Our vision is to fulfil every entertainment need of our user base and adding gaming as a feature to our platform is yet another step in that direction. We are constantly striving to push the envelope – be it with our selection of originals, our curated library of diverse premium content, by integrating audio music and now gaming – we are remaining true to our vision of everytainment. With this move, we want to engage with the nearly 300 million online gamers in India, while also giving our existing users an engaging and fresh experience. By the end of the financial year we will have at least 30 games live on our platform”
MX Player COO Vivek Jain said, “Our customers are overwhelmingly telling us that they want more entertainment use cases in the app. We are humbled by the rate at which video streaming and audio music is being adopted. We are very bullish about the gaming industry in India and expect it to exceed $5 Billion by 2022. We will continue to invest in not only building more India specific games but also in building new and innovative platform features on top of gaming like tournaments, 1-on-1 battles & various social features to make the experience more engaging.”
iWorld
Banijay Asia’s The 50 tops OTT charts with 8.1 million JioHotstar views
Reality competition becomes most watched show on JioHotstar in debut week.
MUMBAI: Fifty contestants walked into a palace, but millions of viewers showed up for the drama. Reality competition The 50, produced by Banijay Asia, has emerged as the most watched show on JioHotstar, clocking 8.1 million views in its debut week. The figure, reported by Ormax Media, places the show at the top of the OTT viewership charts and marks a strong opening for the digital reality format.
Adapted from a popular French format, The 50 brings together 50 personalities from television, digital platforms, music and reality shows inside a grand palace setting. Over the course of a 50 day competition, participants form alliances, compete in unpredictable tasks and navigate eliminations as the field steadily narrows.
Guiding the game is a mysterious figure known as The Lion, an unseen game master whose voice introduces twists, challenges and strategic turns throughout the show, adding an extra layer of suspense to the contest.
What distinguishes The 50 from typical reality competitions is its audience driven prize structure. Instead of the winner taking home the final reward, the prize is awarded to one of the winner’s registered followers through the show’s dedicated app. The mechanism effectively turns viewers into participants, allowing fans to have a direct stake in the outcome.
The contestant lineup features a mix of television actors, reality stars and digital creators, including Karan Patel, Urvashi Dholakia, Divya Agarwal, Mr Faisu and Dushyant Kukreja, each bringing their own fan following to the show.
With its blend of celebrity personalities, strategic gameplay and interactive viewer participation, The 50 has quickly carved out a strong foothold in India’s digital entertainment landscape. Its 8.1 million views in the opening week underline the growing appetite for large scale reality formats designed specifically for OTT audiences.
