Online gaming in India has come a long way from a time when online games were merely an activity to kill time to being at the verge of becoming an almost 2 Billion Dollar Industry by 2022. In fiscal year 2019, there were 300 million online gamers in India. This number was estimated to go up to 440 million gamers by fiscal year 2022. Besides the tremendous growth the industry is accomplishing every second as millions of games are played, the industry still has a long way to go in terms of Career Opportunities, Cultural Acceptance and Technical Excellence. By the time you read this article, Millions would be playing games while thousands of them would pick their first step of their career in the Gaming Industry, A career which not only gives them a super cool and comfortable environment to work in but also a sound Financial Backbone for their exciting life in this Industry.

E-Sports India!

The word “E-sports” in India is being thrown around a lot lately thanks to the popularity of multiplayer online games like PUBG and Fortnite. Little do people know that the E-sports Industry is more than a decade old and has just shot up in India in the past couple of years with more developers and investors jumping into this sector. Some of the games that are fueling this growth incessantly are:-

• COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE (CS: GO)

• PUBG MOBILE

• Dota 2

• Clash Royale

• Brawl Stars

India currently ranks 16th, with a total revenue of $1.17 billion (8,000 crore approx.). But the Game has just begun and the potential is infinite, It is just a matter of time when Gaming Industry becomes one of the most leading Industry as the Growth in the Markets of India is Conspicuous.

10 Reasons why E-Sports India is Going to be the Next Big Thing:

1. A populous and Technology Driven Crowd:

A Gaming Career in Countries like America, Japan or China is very fluent and moderate, as people have built their space to that level and now the competition revolves around limited people. While in India, we will be seeing a massive Growth in the coming years, since people have recently started to acknowledge E-sports and Careers in Gaming. Children have always been excited about online games and no even the parents seem to fathom the imperative effect of Online Games as a Potential Career. “The Indian esports industry is young, but it is growing at an unsubstantial rate of over 20% (according to a report by KPMG )”. “A career in esports or gaming in India can easily earn you anywhere from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh in a month”. The Indian Gaming Infrastructure and Ecosystem has caught a vigorous pace. So, if you are an upcoming Gamer or Game Developer, start your Journey at the earliest and your right timing and efforts will surely bore fruits.

2. Thrilled Investments:

“A 2020 report on the Indian media and entertainment sector by FICCI and EY stated that India’s transactional online skill gaming grew rapidly, registering 40 percent growth in 2019-2020, while revenue generated in 2019 stood at Rs 65 billion”. “It is estimated that about a third of this growth comes from the digital skill gaming and E-sports sector of online gaming”. To no one’s surprise Investors around the globe took no time and flooded the Indian Gaming Scene with Fabulous Investments, as they truly understood the potential of the market with India going Digital and old stereotypes being broken.

Some of the Key Investments:-

In recent weeks there have been several announcements about the launching of a new E-sports scoring system in India. At the end of May, NODWIN Gaming and Airtel announced that they would be joining forces to launch the “Airtel India E- sports Tour”, which will create the country’s first national ranking for Indian E- sports players who take part in NODWIN E-sports events. In early June, energy drink giant Red Bull announced a partnership with streaming service Loco to broadcast E-sports events across India. Red Bull already operates several leagues in India, including Red Bull Flick CounterStike: Global Offensive. OnePlus and Fnatic that the companies were working with Indian cricket stars and professional esports players. Members of the public could enter to play PUBG Mobile against these celebrities for the chance to win an OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone. In recent years, the country has witnessed several upcoming E-Sport startup’s such as JetSynthesys, FanMojo, Nodwin Gaming and Cobx Gaming that have helped in establishing eSports as an investor-friendly industry. With an ever-expanding market, a number of global eSports giants like APUS, Yoozoo Games, Tencent games and a dozen more companies are setting up shop in India and investing millions of dollars into the industry. With over 120 million online gamers at present and billions of dollars up for grabs in revenue, everyone wants a piece of the pie.

3. Escalating Awareness and Popularity:

With over two million fans and two million occasional viewers, the Indian fan base for E-sports, though not the largest in terms of global numbers by any means, is slowly and steadily picking up the pace. With those number, both financially and in terms of viewership, India has become a leading destination for gaming planners to organize big gaming events such as Indian Gaming League, ESL Gaming etc. And exactly in the current scenario, in a nationwide lockdown, Online Games became the true sense of pleasure for the people and people drew out the true sense of freedom while playing these excellent electronic games.

4. Completely Youth Driven:

As the fastest growing economy today, India is home to a fifth of the world's youth. Half of its population of 1.3 billion is below the age of 25, and a quarter is below the age of 14. India's young population is its most valuable asset and most pressing challenge. It provides India with a unique demographic advantage. The fact that India’s a home to such an abundant number of youth, living in one of their most exciting and creative age, the future is going to be shaped by them. The youth is more open-minded and more flexible when it comes to creating.

Thus, The flames of energy and innovation and with an open reception of judgment and ideas, the youth of India will complete all the levels of this game.

5. Reducing Hardware Costs:

A thought of worry does come to mind about the hardware equipments, when one thinks about professional gaming. But guess what? With the Mass production and Technological Advancement around the globe, Companies like sony have reduced the prices of its magnificent gaming devices. Also, lots of companies have been sponsoring Professional Gamers, and this amazing gesture durely tempts millions of other kids to pursue professional gaming.

6. More “Free-to-play-games” Availability:

A wide variety of astounding games are now available online or offline, all for FREE. If you are an upcoming gamer, you can always try all these different games and explore your speciality and can always practice, till you finally turn on the switch of your magical professional career. Some of the Best free-to-play-games are:- Warframe, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, DOTA 2 and much more. All you have to do is a simple click and a colossal variety of games will be ready for you. YAY! These games are like any other games, and in order to attain a competitive efficiency in the same, one needs to grow his/her skills an practice, Thus, these “Free-To-Play-Games” are here to help you build your Gaming Mastery.

7. Increase in Expenditure of Games:

“According to Nodwin Gaming Managing Director Akshath Rathee, the ecosystem can be further grown in India with regulatory support from the government and cultural shift in terms of bringing in acceptance for gaming as a career choice. And talks are going on, about the same.” Rathee also explained that apart from being a gamer, there are several other options available like being a commentator, influencer, coder, voice artists among others. Not only the youth and parents but Companies, Government, Investors are also eyeing an expenditure towards the industry in developing the infrastructure and ecosystem.

8. Marvelous Prize Pool in Tournaments:

E-sports in India have also extended a tempting prize money for all the tournaments. The potential of these tournaments can also be understood when one looks at the prize money involved. Cobx Gaming, at the Cobx Masters (an e-sports tournament) had announced a prize pool of about Rs 1.4 crore. Similarly, 12 Dota 2 teams will battle over a USD 300,000 (around Rs 2.07 crore) prize pool at the ESL One (powered by Intel) slated to be held in Mumbai between April 19-21. Interestingly, 23-year old Tirth Mehta had won the bronze medal for India in the demonstration sport at the Asian Games in 2018. Flipkart Vice President (Private Labels, Electronics, Furniture) Adarsh Menon said the e-commerce marketplace has seen a strong growth in sale of gaming devices on its platform from across the country.

9. E-sports Stars Enjoying the same popularity as Filmstars:

This is the era of Digital Content and Electronic Games, and the old fashioned Cinema and Outdoor games are way back now. At this time, an Actor or Actress on any of the OTT platforms enjoys the same fan following and sometimes more than that of movie stars. And similarly the fan following and fame enjoyed by the E-sport star nowadays is same as that of any other celebrity. This is because through the Digital and Online accessibility and presence, people find Online Gamers and Celebrities on OTT Platforms more alike and relatable.

10. A Step towards a Variety of Gaming Careers:

Once you enter this magical land of creativity and excitement, and as you deep dive in the ocean of different alluring games, besides professional gaming you will find an extreme variety of career options like:- Game Developer, Designer, Influencer, Artist, Programmer, Writer, Tester and much more aligning with your interests and passion.

The kind of resources and exposure available today combined with the affordable cost of owning digital gaming devices, the future of gaming looks bright. The investment made by both eSports giants like Tencent and APUS mixed with domestic startup’s such as Nazara, JetSynthesys and NODWIN Gaming, alongside with Internet giants such as Google and Yahoo, has not only led to better opportunities and infrastructure but has also helped gamers in realizing their lifelong dream.

On a global scale, India has just started out and has already shown the potential of becoming a top country in E-sports. As it stands now, the Indian gaming industry is shaping up to become one of if not the biggest market for digital gaming. With the introduction of E-sports in India, gaming is not just an avenue for entertainment anymore. With the emergence of competitive gaming, E-sports is evolving as a viable career option for virtual athletes and gamers. The Indian E-sports industry today is without a doubt one of the fast-growing industry in the world and its fairly evident the future of E-sports in India is quite promising.

~ Sankalp Mathur