The Indian esports industry has witnessed exponential growth in recent years. It has provided gamers big opportunities to learn and get global exposure. The regular esports events in India have helped Indian gamers to interact with gamers from other countries as well. Today, gamers have adequate sources to push their journey as professional gamers and sharpen their gaming skills. There are many factors that have played a vital role in the growth of the Indian esports industry. To know about the growing esports ecosystem and opportunities for the gamers community, Rajeev Ranjan, Editor, Digital Terminal held exclusive interaction with Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India. The discussion revolved around the emerging trends in the online gaming market, the future of gaming in India and the objective of creating Esports Federation. Read below the excerpts:
Rajeev: How do you look at the growing esports industry in India in the current scenario?
Lokesh Suji: Esports has seen a decent growth over a few years, and we have also seen Indian Gamers set their footprints on the global esport scene. The current pandemic has helped in shifting the focus of esports to online. The overall growth of the esports industry has been phenomenal in 2020. During the Pandemic, esports got much-needed exposure and it seems that it is slowly heading towards the mainstream. We have witnessed the numbers increase dramatically and Gaming is now being considered as a viable career option by Gaming enthusiasts.
Esports industry from a technology standpoint largely depends on ISP infrastructure, Gaming Technologies and Gaming Hardware. Any incremental or even radical change will either enhance the gaming experience or create new opportunities for the industry. For instance, better smartphones and internet penetration has led to the massive growth in number of mobile gamers in India.
With easy access to smartphones and internet, esports has grown leaps and bounds, earlier we hardy use to viewership numbers crossing couple of thousands, today we are talking in millions. Smartphones mobile video game titles (esports ones) have made esports accessible to the mass youth population of India. India will be the next power house for esports, we have approx. 300 Mn esports enthusiasts, and its growth is clearly visible during the covid times be it in terms of online events or streaming, player participations and its viewership.
Rajeev: What are the latest emerging trends in the online gaming market that would drive engagement/consumption over the next few years?
Lokesh Suji: Post-COVID, we’ve seen a tectonic shift in the way technology is being used to revolutionize esports in India both for the players as well as the audience. Some of the key trends & technologies that will drive the Indian esports industry over the next years are:
Data Analytics- The increasing use of AI-backed data analytics to support developers/players/organizers alike, to research reported game patterns and to provide new insights into gaming strategies for professional gamers to better their gaming experience and to enhance their viewing experience for the audience.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)- In the coming years, Artificial Intelligence is the backbone of the esports industry, providing players with technologically advanced training tools focused on machine learning that will further improve their skills and gaming strategies. In the near future, natural language processing (NLP) instruments will gain momentum. The player-audience social experience will also be increasingly personalised by AI.
Virtual Reality (VR)- A fresh demand for VR esports is emerging with the introduction of untethered VR headsets and new games. It should feel really immersive, so players feel more linked to the game.
Mobile Gaming- According to a joint report published by the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association and the consulting firm KPMG, by 2022, India's smartphone base will reach 820 million active users. This clearly highlights the ability of mobile gaming to push a wider audience from India's still untapped markets towards esports. Esports could be the next big thing, especially in rural India, where most youngsters have a smartphone. India has emerged as the hotspot for mobile esports in the past couple of years. India's rising penetration of smartphones will take esports to another level altogether. The next wave of esports penetration in India will also fly with high bandwidth capabilities of 5G enabled wireless networking coupled with cloud gaming.
Streaming / Content Creation- Streaming is where anyone can record or show their game by broadcasting it live over the internet through streaming platforms. Streamers can add custom graphics to their stream, communicate through a chat room with viewers, try to inform the viewers and entertain them. It enables fans to get closer to the action and to make some extra money for pro gamers and entertainers. Facebook and YouTube will lead the show in India. Streamers have been able to monetize their content and rake up good monies; streaming today is a viable career option.
Streaming tools- In order to minimize problems and enhance the quality of online gaming, game streaming software solutions are essential. Game streaming software is well equipped with features and elements that help beautify game streams and improve the overall streaming experience. The streaming tools are Open Broadcaster software (OBS Studio), Xsplit, Wirecast & Stream Pro etc.
Esports Platforms- Esports is not necessarily to be held in a physical environment, esports athletes can compete in various tournaments hosted online by these Esports platforms, during Covid, we saw surge in participations/engagement like Gamerji, Ultimate Battle, there are self-service platforms like Ustreak who allow gamers to host their own tournaments and leagues directly on the website or in Discord using their bots. Ustreak happens to be world’s first few to build this functionality and India’s first one to do so.
Rajeev: As the Indian esports industry federation, what remains your core objective? Why did you decide to create a federation for esports in India?
Lokesh Suji: ESFI promotes, encourages, educates, trains and controls the esports in India. We have started with the rankings system and will keep adding more game titles, this will help in giving visibility to the underdog players/teams and help us in building a good talent pool, recently we have also started with Female Ranking scrims; we are already working on training and collegiate programs which will be released soon.
We have already rolled out our National Rankings Scrims for games like Call of Duty-Mobile, Valorant, Free Fire, Rocket League, DOTA2 & will be adding more games in this year. One of our key initiatives has been introduction of the National Ranking system. As esports moves towards getting included in Olympics & recognized in India, it’s important for all to be aware & aligned to various aspects of the sports eco-system (the federation, rankings etc.). While esports is similar to the traditional sports but has its own few uniqueness’s too.
Just like any other sports, esports will also have its world rankings someday; with the same intend ESFI took this initiative. In other sports, this system is tried/testing over a period of 100 years and is well established, but our sport is new, hence this will evolve over the period of time including and not limiting to format, mechanism, game title, community feedback etc.
Rajeev: As the internet and smartphones are reaching every corner of the country so what is your estimation about the gamer base by end of 2021?
Lokesh Suji: It is needless to say that it is Technology, be it in the form of connectivity, advanced games, hardware, or platform that is fueling and shaping the growth of esports. According to the recently released EY FICCI 2021 report, the online gaming segment grew 18% in 2020 to reach INR 77 billion as online gamers grew 20% from 300 million in 2019 to 360 million in 2020. Consumption of gaming content has also risen exponentially and this has created a huge opportunity for organizations to garner a fanbase as well as providing an avenue for monetization.
I would also like to mention the major hurdles faced by Indian esports athletes:
Esports is growing, and we need to establish a wider wireframe to support the ecosystem so that new skilled esports athletes can grow from all over India.
Rajeev: Why do you believe that esports should be treated as Sports in India? How do you the chances of getting esports into any big events like Asian Games? What are your efforts in this direction?
Lokesh Suji: I think, we are over with this discussion, esports is a sport and is recognized by International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is the apex body for sports and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA); instead, we have serious concerns when playing fantasy, teen patti, rummy, poker, real money gaming, gambling and or betting is considered as esports; it horrendous.
Esports is a sport, it is competitive video game playing, coordinated by different leagues, where players participate in group gaming competitions. Viewers can watch professional gamers compete against each other in a variety of games. We are a sport because the physicality of responses of our participants leads to the result of a winner. And esports is essentially a speed competition. The business model of esports depends majorly on three aspects – media rights, sponsorship and merchandising. There is no space for gambling or betting involvement in the esports sector. Mostly esports companies never charge their players to play their tournaments; instead, they give them massive prize money on winning the tournament.
While the community does what it needs to be done, government recognition of esports as a sport is must, but we are very optimistic it will happen soon, government is also opening up, it was in 2019 that SEPC (unit of Ministry of Industry & Commerce) along with ESFI did “Nations Cup” an International esports championship, which was India’s first esports backed fully by the Government; recently esports was also part of the starred questions in parliament on 4th Feb 2021 and Ministry of Sports tabled its reply in which they said “esports is an emerging platform for the youth population in the country. There are large numbers of esports enthusiasts in our country. It is included in Asian Games 2022 as a medal sport discipline but not yet included in the Olympics. Esports is different from gaming or igaming and gambling, etc. as former is skill based while latters are chance based”; these are good signs for our esports ecosystem.
Esports now been included in Asian Games 2022 and once the game titles are announced, we will start getting our teams ready; last time we got bronze and this time we have to get Gold. Other than this, our primary focus is to expand in coaching and training for which we are already in discussions with some leading agencies. You will also find certified Referees this year which will be India’s first. ESFI is working closely with other fellow National Esports Federations of South Asia, and will jointly launch South Asia Championship, which will give our athletes international exposure also. We will be working more closely with the game publishers and developers as they are the key of our esports.
Rajeev: With the increasing focus on local development of gaming software and machines, how do you see the opportunities for stakeholders in this domain?
Lokesh Suji: There are enough opportunities that have been created, esports is the new industry in which you can build multiplayer video games, develop live streaming tools, AI, hardware (Gaming Chairs, Headsets etc), Esports Arenas, Coaching Centers/Online Courses to enhance the skills of esports athletes, Team owners, Live Streaming/Content Creation etc.
We already have video games like WCC3, Hitwicket, Skyfall, Faug which in the race with international esports titles, Streaming platforms like Loco, Rheo which are competing with likes of Facebook & Youtube, Esports platforms like Playtonia, Ustreak, Ultimate Battle which are leading the show. All of these are made in India tools/products. Also, Trinity Gaming which is India’s top gaming talent management company playing a huge role in helping gaming creators master and monetize their craft.
If you are an investor you should invest in these, esports is the next big thing and you would not want to miss this opportunity.
