‘India is the next hot spot for esports games and companies’

Gaming has jumped to the forefront of many people’s attention after recent big developments around this sector.

Microsoft’s US$69 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard is proof the technology company sees significant future value in gaming and potentially the metaverse.

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Netflix co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said he wants Netflix to become a world leader in gaming distribution. In fact, Netflix said recently that it will begin licensing well-known intellectual property later this year to offer popular games through its burgeoning service.

Savvy Gaming Group, backed by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund, has acquired two of the biggest names in the world of esports tournament operators – ESL and FACEIT, for a combined sum of IS$1.5 billion.

Where is India in all this?

India is among the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. High internet penetration rate, mobile first phenomena, and low cost of Internet play are key factors driving this growth.  Today, mobile gaming is a US$2.2 billion market in India, poised to reach US$7 billion by 2025, growing at an astounding CAGR of 40%. An average Indian consumes over 8.5 hours of gaming content per week.

Twitter recently published the chart which is led by Japan and followed by the United States and India ranks 10th in this category.

Sagar Nair, Co-Founder & CEO, Qlan, a gamer’s social network, says gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries in India.

The industry is also attracting many investors as well as contributing to the overall valuation of the industry in India as well as the whole world. Contributing to various projections on the growth of the industry, many game developers are now optimising their games for mobile phones, which is the largest chunk of gamers in India

“Gaming is one of the fastest-growing industries in India clocking a growth rate of 40% in 2019-20. As the industry grows in terms of the number of gamers and generating revenue, we see people getting attracted to the world of gaming every day,” he says.

“Many journalists and news agencies have started presenting their views generating interest in the industry. The industry is also attracting many investors as well as contributing to the overall valuation of the industry in India as well as the whole world. Contributing to various projections on the growth of the industry, many game developers are now optimising their games for mobile phones, which is the largest chunk of gamers in India,” he adds.

According to an EY report, the eSports industry came to boom in the Indian market after the first lockdown and has been growing in size ever since with an annual growth rate of 46% and is set to value at INR1100 crore and account for 2% of the global prize pool by 2025.

But how far is India in esports compared to the US and China? Nair says looking at these numbers and the penetration by titles like Freefire and BGMI, “India is the next hot spot for esports games and companies.”

“India, compared to the US and China has the most growth potential in terms of Esports as the industry wasn’t as popular in the Indian market.”

No wonder the Union Budget this year promised support to the ecosystem, which has been buzzing.

What’s Buzzing?

Two weeks back, GodLike Esports, an Indian esports team, inked a partnership with Loco, an Indian game streaming and esports platform. Facilitated by GodLike Esports’ exclusive management agency, Cornerstone Sport, the partnership deal provides exclusive live streaming rights for GodLike’s BGMI, Free Fire, and CODM rosters to Loco. The two companies will join forces to develop new forms of creative live content.

Last week, the Electronic Sports Federation of India (ESFI) released the AESF Quarterly Newsletter in regard to Road to Asian Games: The Journey to the 2022 Asian Games Esports Final in Hangzhou.

Two days ago, game development company Atirath raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Kalaari Capital. Atirath develops games in casual and strategy genre bringing unique sub-continent cultural elements with global appeal. The funds will be used for strengthening products to evolve and develop the economic model of game metaverse and for team expansion.

Today, NODWIN Gaming signed an exclusive four year deal with Challengermode to host South Asian and African esports tournaments. The partnership will see NODWIN Gaming use Challengermode’s esports tournament platform to run its esports events and tournaments in its key markets of South Asia and Africa.

Read more: eSports market targets young gamers & local Indian flavours to grow

The partnership will also aim to expand across platforms to include Mobile titles that are of particular interest for NODWIN Gaming and Challengermode. Both will work actively to integrate its mobile – first approach to developing markets with the platform to build synergy for both parties.

Such regular tournaments will give aspiring grassroots esports players the chance to compete in a professional setting and for real prize money with the aim of encouraging greater participation in South Asia’s vibrant esports scene among traditional gamers and under-represented demographics, such as women interested in esports.