MUMBAI: eSports seems to be peaking at the right time and the Indian market has got a massive boost with Bhuj’s Tirth Mehta winning a Bronze medal at the first entry of the sport at the Asian Games 2018.
According to a Moneycontrol report, the result has played catalyst for the eSports Federation of India to launch a new, nationwide ‘Gaming Café Affiliation’ program for grassroots development and pick out the best talent for the sport to represent India at more multi-nation and multi-discipline events.
“We are working to develop academies and leagues so as to identify the best of the talent pool and train them. Our Gaming Cafe affiliation program will be launched pretty soon, for grass root development of e-sports and training of the e-sports athletes,” Lokesh Suji, director of eSports Federation of India told Moneycontrol.
Suji is bullish about the appeal that eSports has for millennials as well as corporates in India. He predicts that it will take four years for the industry to become less fragmented and more streamlined.
“eSports is the best way to reach and engage with the millennial of today’s digital world. Brands have also started taking note of eSports and want to get involved with it. Mountain Dew, HP are some examples,” he added.
A report by KPMG Google mentions that India boasts of 120 million online gamers across the country, a number which is expected to jump to a whopping 310 million by 2021.
As a result, Suji is aware that India has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to offering an overall prize money in sanctioned national competitions, which is pegged at anywhere between Rs 6 million and Rs 10 million. However, he is confident of the progress being extremely rapid.
“Last year we had some headway with over all prize pool of Rs 60 lakh Rs1 crore which is not a lot when compared to leading esports countries like China where the market is pegged around $1 billion but we are making quick progress and Asian Games is a proof,” Suji asserted.
Clash Royale is one of the top eSports games for which competitions are held in India. It is the same video game in which Karan Manganani from Jaipur was placed fourth at the Asian Games. FIFA, PUBG, Fortnite, Asphalt and DOTA are other favourites, as per the federation.
Although the federation is working towards building the ideal blueprint to grow the industry, it is working with the Asia eSports Federation closely to push for the sport’s inclusion at the Olympic Games as winning medals remains a priority as well.
