After a 3-month long nationwide hunt, iQOO has announced that it has selected Shwetank Pandey, a 23-year-old from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh as the company’s first ever Chief Gaming Officer.
iQOO said that Shwetank was the last man standing amongst 60,000+ applicants, who applied to become one of India’s youngest Chief Gaming Officers with iQOO.
Shwetank was appointed after an exhilarating selection process that spanned across criterions of Gameplay, Gaming Knowledge, and Personality & Communication skills.
Shwetank is a police officer’s son from small town Kanpur. An avid gamer, Shwetank was always inclined toward gaming and esports. In a fascinating turn of events earlier in his career, he committed himself to a year-long job solely to save up for a new phone, for playing his favorite game, BGMI.
Once he cleared all his EMIs, he fearlessly left the job, even when a promotion with thrice his current salary was offered to him. Not stopping there, he even walked away from his MBA studies, prioritising his passion above all else to choose gaming as a career.
From competing in the gaming rounds, qualifying through the group discussions and finally clearing the audition round with Rannvijay Singha, Mythpat and Nipun as jury, Shwetank has overcome 60,000 talented Gen Z gamers entries across 500+ Indian cities to emerge triumphant.
He will now be working closely with the leadership team at iQOO and will be assisting in sharing gaming insights to build a complete smartphone package for gamers. Not only that, he will also get an opportunity to collaborate with top gamers across India, all this while earning a remuneration of INR 10 Lakhs.
In addition to the Chief Gaming Officer role, iQOO has also appointed 2 zonal CGOs to the dynamic team. Aojesh Shrivastava from Delhi and Battu Nikhil Reddy (Shoutout YT), Hyderabad. They will be working directly with Shwetank, CGO, iQOO to align strategies, enhance community engagement, and ensure that the gaming experience for iQOO users continues to be exceptional. They will earn a compensation of INR 2.5 lakh each for their pivotal roles.
The main objective behind the CGO role is to assure that iQOO is providing seamless and top-notch experiences to its valued consumers across all aspects. With a strong focus on user satisfaction, iQOO said that it continues to look for innovative ways to enhance customer experiences.
In the future, iQOO said that it is committed to introducing similar initiatives to engage with its users and to better understand their needs.
Expressing his joy over becoming iQOO’s first ever Chief Gaming Officer, Shwetank said:
I feel on top of the world right now. When I initially filled out the form, I was reluctant and hoped to be among the finalists. Little did I know that it would lead me this far and eventually result in becoming iQOO’s first ever CGO. The finalists I met in Mumbai were all good gamers and great individuals. I am grateful to be chosen amongst them and thankful to iQOO and the jury for providing aspiring gamers like me with such a big platform.
Welcoming iQOO’s Chief Gaming Officer, Nipun Marya, CEO, iQOO said:
This is an iconic moment in the Indian Smartphone industry and we are over the moon to have found the person who embodies our vision for this role. The DNA of iQOO is to bring in ‘I Quest On and On’ and Shwetank was never short of his peak performance across all rounds of the hunt. With him joining us, we intend to drive a more dynamic and fresher perspective to our products and initiatives for the younger gaming enthusiasts in the country. All of us at iQOO are excited to have him on board, and we are confident that he will excel in fulfilling the duties aligned for him.