Gaming Becomes Serious Business in India with Beginning of New Era for esports

E-sports have grown in popularity in India as a result of high mobile penetration and extremely low data rates, allowing millions of fans, primarily youth, to try their hand at gaming. With large-scale investments from companies such as Tencent, Nazara, Alibaba, and Paytm, the industry is expected to grow even faster.

On December 1, 16 teams from around the world gathered in Berlin to compete in the Valorant 2021 Champions Tour (VCT), where they tested their mettle in e-sports to win not only the championship, but also the USD 1 million prize money. Though India is not currently represented in the championship, the increasing popularity of e-sports in India, as well as the entry of several deep-pocketed investors in this sphere, could mean that there will be Indian entries in the next edition of this championship.

Since the release of Players Unknown Battlegrounds, or PUBG (an online free-to-play battle royale game), in 2018, the popularity of e-sports has grown even more, with many expert players, who go by aliases such as Scout or Mortal, streaming their games online for others to watch and learn.

Recognizing the market opportunity in India, Chinese tech behemoths such as Tencent and Alibaba, as well as several Indian firms, have begun investing in e-sports to develop new games for the Indian market. As a result, the Indian e-sports market has grown to USD 3 billion and is expected to reach INR 11 billion by 2025, according to E&Y. It goes on to say that the number of developers is expected to rise from 25 to 250 by then, and that the number of players will have risen to 1.5 million, with 85 million more joining in as viewers.

The consultancy expects the share of Indian games

The consultancy also forecasts a significant increase in the share of Indian games over the next three years. According to the report, approximately 4 percent of mobile games available on the Play Store are published by Indian companies. Since 2015, the number of Indian gaming studios has increased fivefold, and there are now over 14 esports broadcast platforms, with a total of 20 platforms expected by 2025.

In 2019, India made its mark in the world of e-sports by hosting the widely watched PUBG Mobile Series (a tournament for PUBG players) and the DOTA 2 E-Sports League (ESL) (A free-to-play online multiplayer 5 versus 5 game).

The Covid-19 pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise for this industry. With people cooped up at home for the majority of the year, the number of players using their smartphones for gaming increased by 60%.

E-commerce and the improvement of internet services in the country have also been significant contributors to the industry's growth. Not only are esports for mobile gaming gaining popularity, but PC gaming is also gaining popularity.

Currently, a new game called Valorant, developed by Riot Games (publisher of League of Legends or more colloquially known as League), is enthralling markets all over the world, including India. With Valorant, or rather its games, becoming increasingly popular with Indian consumers, a number of new streamers have emerged in the world of e-sports, including Zishu, Solo, and HydraFlick.

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