India towards Esports
Esports (Electronic Sports) is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. With the participation by professional gamers and spectatorship in various events through live streaming saw a large surge in popularity in Esports and gaming and by the 2010s, esports was a significant factor in the video game industry, as many game developers were actively designing and providing funding for tournaments and other events.
Labeling video games as sports is a controversial topic. Esports are a fast-growing non-traditional sport which requires careful planning, precise timing, and skillful execution but sports involve physical fitness and physical training. To help promote esports as a legitimate sport, several esports events have been run alongside more traditional international sports competitions but the topic is still debatable.
Mobile games are considered one of the most money-making industries in the world. Smartphones being capable of running high-definition games hence introducing a lot to the phone gaming market. Many phone apps have created competitive scenes with so many fans and money driving competition.
Difference between Esports and Gaming
One of the biggest misconceptions and mistakes is using the terms “esports” and “gaming” interchangeably. When it comes to the growing worlds of esports and gaming, there is a difference that brands should notice in order to connect to their target audiences. Gaming is the practice of playing video games. Gamers or Gaming enthusiasts are individuals who enjoy different sorts of options in different games which may or may not have a competitive element to them. Esports is a sort of professional gaming. They are in the form of competitions held on specific multiplayer online video game platforms. These competitions dish out prize pools from $1 million — $100 million.
Esports in India
India ranks 16th in the world, with a total revenue of $1.17 billion (8,000 crore approx.). China is known to have the largest gaming market in the world, with a total revenue of $37.9 billion (Rs 26.11 lakh crore approx.), followed by US, Japan and Korea. This shows there is huge potential in the esports market in India and Indian government needs to recognize it as a sport. The recognition of Esports is lacking hence a lot of talent gets wasted.
The esports segment within online gaming has seen a significant growth in India in the past few years with high-end smartphones at affordable prices, as well as the rise of mobile games such as PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, Clash of Legends, Call of Duty Mobile among bigger PC and console games. The entry of PUBG Mobile in India was a game-changing moment as India has the highest number of downloads and with Tencent along with brands such as Oppo and Vivo investing in the competitive events. Counter Strike remains the most popular and most played esports in India. Dota 2 is one of the first esports games that comes to mind while talking about India’s most popular esports games. Also, games such as Free fire, COD mobile, Clash of clans, Valorant, etc. are making a significant market in Esports. As demand for competitive gaming rises in India, the esports and gaming segment is attracting adequate investor interest.
For esports, streaming helped enable major tournaments to reach the general public, and significantly extended reach beyond live and in-person events. Currently there can be much scope for professional gamers in India with live streaming platforms such as YouTube and other local platforms such as Loco in rise and also with esports growing and players earning it can be considered as a good career option. A career in esports or gaming in India at the highest level can earn you anywhere from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh in a month. Also, with esports organizations apart from India such as Fnatic and TSM investing in India are some good-looking scenarios for Indian esports. Having known all that esports as a career option is still debatable and is a risky one.
In the pandemic, mobile esports and streaming witnessed a significant surge in users hence in order to cater to this audience, multi-gaming platforms, streaming players and entrepreneurs have started to invest in esports tournaments to engage their users. Global gaming firms, such as Activision, Garena and Supercell, are lining up to invest in India’s esports ecosystem after PUBG mobile’s banned exit. Many brands such as Mountain Dew, Poco, Qualcomm, Logitech, Airtel, Dell, Acer, Coca-Cola, and Oppo have sponsored esports tournaments and teams in the last two years. With all these India having high number of youth India Esports has great potential of advancement.
Written by: Maharshi Vidhyarthi (Instagram: @mahi_103)
Vociferous Writers (Instagram: @vociferouswriters)
