Axe Deodorant announces first gaming integration in India with World Cricket Championship 3

The in-game integration inside Next Wave multimedia’s WWC 3 is implemented by GroupM ESP

World Cricket Championship 3 (WCC 3) has announced the first ever in-game integration of Axe Deodorant which is implemented by GroupM ESP. This association brings alive dual benefits promised by the brand to gamers, who can upgrade two skills instead of one when they are faced with challenging situations on the field in-game. In line with the brand promise, WCC 3 players are being offered a dual benefit when they upgrade their skills in the game.

The association comes at the time of resumption of IPL 2021 and spilling over to ICC World T20.Axe Deodorant has been associated with gaming globally and this is the first-ever in-game partnership in the country.

Says Next Wave Multimedia, CEO and co-founder, P.R. Rajendran, “We’re thrilled to have Axe Deodorant choose WCC 3 for its first gaming integration in the country. Given the cricket season is upon us, I think this will provide fans with more excitement while they play the game. WCC always looks forward to providing its community with the best experience and we’re sure Axe Deodorant will only enhance it!”

Says HUL, General Manager, Deodorants, Shailendra Singh “The 1^st love for most young guys in India is cricket. The integration of Axe with WCC 3 brings together this 1^st love with another major passion points – gaming. It is a great platform to bring alive AXE’s Dual action proposition with which it relaunched earlier this year. We are excited to get young consumers to level up their game – Digitally while gaming and in IRL with AXE can”

GroupM South Asia, Head – sports, esports and entertainment, Vinit Karnik said, “We’re thrilled to have collaborated with Axe on WWC3. In-game integration makes brand communication very focused, along with targeting the right consumers. With the newfound sense of consumer value in gaming, users will increasingly engage with content that delivers true value. Since gaming is a massive and readily engaging market with customers, it was a perfect synergy to bring together Axe and next wave multimedia for this initiative.”

WCC 3, the latest edition in the World Cricket Championship (WCC) franchise which has over 160 million downloads. The game has been infused with simulation of actual cricket, updated gameplay features like new controls, animations, real-time motions of athletes and professional cricketers, women’s cricket, a comprehensive career mode with over 400 tournaments, international leagues and much more. The game recently also added a standalone esports lobby.

The game also offers multiple vernacular language commentaries apart from English by professional commentators. It offers Telugu commentary voiced by former Indian cricketer and current IPL commentator, Venkatapathy Raju. English bowler, columnist and BBC cricket commentator Isa Guha and Matthew Hayden comprise the English Commentary roster, while the ingame Hindi and Tamil versions are voiced by Aakash Chopra and Abhinav Mukund respectively.

The World Cricket Championship series has been created by Chennai based Next Wave Multimedia Pvt. Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies Ltd., a leading India based diversified gaming and sports media platform. Launched in November 2020, the third instalment is the latest in the series. The game has won the Indian Game Developers Conference’s “Studio Game of the Year” award and Google Play Store’s “Users Choice” Award 2020.