India is set to become a new target for esports as the competitive gaming industry hopes to harness the huge potential of the nation’s millions of gamers. With major gaming organisations spending large amounts of money advertising the latest esports, it’s hoped that India can finally make the step up to become a key player in the growth of pro gaming.
A recent reported stated that the Indian esports industry could be worth as much as INR 118 billion by 2023, and this is set to grow rapidly once the infrastructure around pro gaming gets put in place. So what does India need to do to compete with other competitive gaming powerhouses around the world?
The current state of esports in India
Already there is a healthy esports scene in India. This is thanks to the success of streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTuber where gamers get to watch the gameplay of high-profile streamers.
At the moment, the most popular esports in India are those online multiplayer battle arena games like League of Legends, although first-person shooters such as Counter Strike Global Offensive have also seen a rapid rise in popularity. In addition to these classic esports, it looks like battle royale games such as Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) are experiencing a boom in popularity with an estimated 15 million daily active game users in India.
There has also been an increasing visibility of Indian pro gamers like Krish ‘MooN’ Gupta who are setting the example for others to follow.
Boosted esports infrastructure in India
It’s not just the actual gamers and games tournaments that are enjoying an explosion in popularity. The entire infrastructure surrounding esports is also experiencing something of a groundswell in support.
For example, in 2010, there were as little as just 25 game developers operating in India, but there are now thought to be over 250 developers starting up in the country each year. Plus sites like Strafe have shown that there has been the rapid increase in the number of online bookmakers in India who are ready to take customers’ bets on a variety of esports tournaments.
The Indian gaming scene has also felt the positive impact of international companies such as Paytm, Tencent and Alibaba who have each made significant investments in the development of the video gaming community.
It’s something reflecting in the growing advertising spend for esports in India with the recent Valorant billboards being just one example. Similarly, tech companies such as Asus have found great success in sponsoring esports tournaments in India.
The investment of new esports tournaments in India is critical to the development of the scene. Thankfully, it looks like more tournament organisers are setting up in the nation with EA Sports recently partnering up with Nodwin Gaming to host a second edition of the Indian Super League football contest.
Where can India esports go from here?
While there is plenty of potential in the Indian esports scene, it’s clear that more investment is needed to bring in the required stakeholders to provide the additional infrastructure of a pro gaming community. All of the basic elements are in place, but efforts must be made to ensure that India can attract the major tournament organizers such as ESL, DreamHack and so on.
Plus there is a real need for established Indian esports teams like Enigma Gaming, Godlike Esports and Revenant Esports to continue to receive the funding they need to compete at the top tier. This is only going to be possible if Indian esports is made as attractive as possible to developers, advertisers and investors. Thankfully, it looks as though esports in India is already off to a great start.
