iWorld
Challenge the establishment to crack digital code: Hotstar’s Ajit Mohan
MUMBAI: Just when India was warming up to the concept of internet on the mobile, Star India came out with its over the top platform Hotstar. Today, it is the top OTT platform in the country and one may think the road to success was entirely smooth. But Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan spoke about the streamer’s journey while speaking at The Advertising Club’s D-Code.
Hotstar was initially a free-ad supported venture when it was launched in 2015 causing rapid growth in users. The challenge was when it had to convince the price-conscious Indian consumer to pay. Indians were so used to free goodies that paying for content was unheard of.
It had just bagged the streaming rights for the popular show Game of Thrones season 6 and came out with a campaign leveraging the lingo of the American fantasy drama. Though it was a great campaign for Game of Thrones fans, the subscription number did not move.
The game changer campaign which makes the Hotstar CEO very proud, was launched during season 7 of the stalwart show. The multimedia campaign titled ‘Torrents Morghulis’ is a twist on the phrase ‘Valar Morghulis’ from the show. The meaning of the original phrase “All men must die” was tweaked into “All torrents must die.”
“It clearly communicated the fearlessness of the premium proposition,” Ajit Mohan said. It was not easy to challenge torrents which enjoyed a lot of loyalty and commitment among its users. “…Therefore it was a statement to tell them (torrent users) that not just did we have a better proposition than torrent but torrent was dying,” he added. The campaign led to a “dramatic rise” in Hotstar Premium Subscription numbers.
Mohan also spoke about a campaign from Domino’s which can give valuable lessons to brands. The “classic video campaign” was rolled out during this IPL leveraging Hotstar’s WatchN’Play. While WatchN’Play provided cricket fans to play along with their favourite teams virtually, Domino’s was the first brand to utilise the opportunity. The rule for users was that the points collected from the game help to access Domino’s coupons. 19 million coupons were distributed across the country on the back of this campaign. Domino’s blurred the line between brand and performance according to Mohan.
This IPL itself was a benchmark for Hotstar as 202 million viewers logged on to its video streaming platform to watch the T20 tournament. Moreover, it successfully handled more than 10 million concurrent viewers during the IPL final match.
The man who saw the challenges from the initial days of OTT business in India and built a world-class platform along with his team thinks challenging the establishment is very important, however small a brand could be. A campaign line alone does not suffice to crack digital code without an articulated philosophy. He concludes with, “Look for the truth in humour and the humour in truth.”
Gaming
Sony raises PS5 prices for second time in under a year
US disc edition jumps $100 to $649.99 as memory costs surge.
MUMBAI: Sony just hit the pause button on affordable gaming because when memory prices skyrocket, even the Playstation has to pay the premium. Sony has announced its second price increase for the Playstation 5 range in less than a year, citing pressures in the global economic landscape and a sharp rise in memory component costs driven by AI demand.
In the US, the PS5 disc edition will rise from $549.99 to $649.99, a $100 hike while the digital edition increases to $599.99. The more powerful PS5 Pro will jump $150 to $899.99. The Playstation Portal remote player will also rise by $50 to $249.99. The new prices take effect on 2 April 2026.
Similar increases have been applied in the UK (£90 per model), Europe and Japan. Sony last raised PS5 prices in the US in August 2025.
“We know that price changes impact our community, and after careful evaluation, we found this was a necessary step to ensure we can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide,” Sony said in a blog post.
The hikes come amid an unprecedented surge in memory prices, as manufacturers prioritise supply for AI data centres. Analysts say Sony had likely secured price protections for components that have now expired, forcing the company to protect its hardware margins.
Ampere Analysis research director of games Piers Harding-Rolls told CNBC that further increases from Microsoft and Nintendo would not be surprising, though Nintendo may hesitate to raise the price of its recently launched Switch 2 while establishing the new platform.
The increases arrive eight months before the highly anticipated release of GTA 6, which is expected to drive strong console sales. However, early reactions online have been a mix of disappointment and resignation, with growing concern that premium gaming is increasingly becoming a hobby for higher-income players.
In a sector already grappling with tariffs, inflation and component shortages, Sony’s move underscores a tough reality: even the most popular consoles are not immune to the rising cost of keeping up with the latest technology.
