Esports in India :

The truth :

An undeniable truth and unforgiving one for gamers in India are that their parents would never allow their children to follow their dreams and take E-Sports as a career path. Most of them won't even let them take sports in General. In India we only adore cricket and no other game exist in the world. Parents are hesitant to send their child even to become a cricket player. Cricket has been with us ever since the start of time LOL. It is ok for parents to be in a cautious state because they are just looking after us, but times are changing. How many of us want to see India shine as it does in cricket to shine in football or in the Olympics or even E-Sports.  If the world is changing we must also change.

Facts About E-Sports :

Already E-sports has taken center stage all around the world and many of us don’t even know what E-sports is all about. E-sports is the biggest industry surpassing Hollywood and any other giants of the world. Dota 2 is an online multiplayer game developed by Valve who conducts various competitions around the world and gives pretty high Tournament prizes. The International is one of those tournaments held every year and in 2019 it is predicted that it will go above $30 million. That's just a prize pool for a single game in a single event.

Valve Conducts other competitions for Dota2 like The Majors and Minors all Around the globe. There are so many gaming companies conducting their own competitions like League of Legends, Heroes of the storm etc, etc. Now E-Sports has become a very hot commodity and the prize pool mentioned above is bigger than even grand slams of tennis and other sports. Esports has made a huge shout that there are people debating that it could be included in Olympics as a sport. Now lets have a look about Dota2 Yearly Biggest Esports Event in the planet called The International.

Prize Pool For The International Dota2:

( Prizes are for only one game)

The International 2019   USD$ 30,000,000 (Prediction)

The International 2018          $25,532,177

The International 2017          $ 24,787,916

The International 2016          $ 20,770,460

The International 2015          $ 18,429,613

The International 2014          $ 10,931,105

The International 2013          $   2,874,380

The International 2012          $   1,600,000

The International 2011          $   1,600,000 ( First Tournament Held) From  USD $   1,600,000 TO USD $  24,787,916.

 

Issues In India :

This is so clear that we don’t have a dominant E-sports Community in India. Most of us gamers just keep to ourselves and don’t want to join any gaming Community. We are so ashamed to just say “ I am a gamer” when the whole world of gamers are showing off saying “ Proud to be a gamer”. We understand you that in India when we say “I am a gamer “ everyone just laughs at you, and no one takes you seriously.

Did you know that India is one of the countries which gave a name for Dota as a good online game when it was first launched as a Mod of Warcraft a decade back?. Dota2 has one of the largest player bases in India. But when it comes to skill bracket we stand way back.We are way back in skills than other small countries.

In India, parents will say "I said Turn it off and go study" whereas Koreans say "Play more hours so you can qualify" that is the difference. It's not because of skills we are behind. We just don’t understand the seriousness of E-Sports and what it has to offer, and we are asked to look for a stable paying job rather than to follow your dream. This kind of thinking will change when the current generation of gamers starts becoming parents themselves.To people who think Esports In India is a Passing fad please check out this video from AFK Gaming.

The other Major issue is Equipment. For a gamer to buy a Decent Gaming Rig is very hard to achieve as it is very costly in India. After the Equipment comes family support. Supporting a Child to pursue gaming as a career is very hard for Indian Parents to accept. In India we have so many talents who are over shadowed because they dont get any sponsors. Many potential talents get lost in the dark because they have no one to identify them and show them the correct path. These Talented gamers majority of them are players who come from a Middle class family or lower.

Their need to support their families comes in first, and they dont pursue their dream and they dont get a chance to hone their skills for the world stage. They just accept the fact and let go of their dreams for their families sake.

A Spark for Esports in India:

Nowadays Companies are coming forward with sponsorship for gaming events in India. Esl India and has announced INR 1.10 Crore($160,000) each as a prize pool for their premiership in 2019. Cobx masters have also announced 1 crore as prize pool. This puts the events leveled with some of the gaming competitions in the region. In the near future, many more companies will come forward to sponsor even with greater prize pools. We have a huge player base in India that number has to count for something. Strong gaming communities have to be formed.

If you are a casual or a hardcore gamer join a gaming community or create a new one. We are not asking everyone to quit their jobs and studies and play games. Many Indian gamers are now coming out of their shells. We can see gamers asking various questions about esports and game development in India. They are looking for an answer on how to make gaming as a career.

PUBG Mobile has made a serious impact in the Gaming community of India. The people who are Non Gamers took up their Mobile Phones and were mesmerized by the game. The game became a huge Success in India and has a lot of users who play the game. After their Huge Success Pubg came up with the idea of conducting Esports Events for the game. For every event they conducted their success was simply amazing. This paved the way for a Normal Indian gamers to showcase their talents in the national stage.

Tournaments Like Pubg Club Open India was a great success. The fanbase for the teams began to increase exponentially when gamers turned in huge numbers to support their Favourite teams. Teams Like Team Soul got huge support from the viewers. The average viewers count for the matches were Nearly 60,000. The Prizepool for PMCO event was Rs 1.20 Crores which is USD$175000. The winner of the tournament Team Soul are going to Global Finals which will be held in Berlin.

This is a huge success for the Indian gaming Community as they will have a chance to see their players perform in the world stage. This will boost the gamers who are still trying to make their way into the Pro Scene in other games like Dota2, Csgo and So on.

So what can I Do ?:

REMEMBER ONE THING it's not EZ to become a Professional Player. So ask yourself. Do I have the skills to become a Pro player? Then take steps to improve your skills and compete. Build a good team of effective players. Look for tournaments, compete there if you win its a different story.

If your friend is an avid gamer, with the proper skills to become an E-Sports Professional player support him, or encourage him. If you or your friend is a gamer and good at designing think about game Designing. Indian game Development companies have started producing games on multiple platforms. Not to mention Big companies like Ubisoft and Ea have already set up shop in India. Many Gaming companies are planning to come to India to start their business. They understand that India is the unexploited market and it's a growing one.

Ubisoft Pune was started in 2008. They are planning to open another branch in Mumbai. It's not only the gaming market they are after, its the technical and creative knowledge of the Indian Gaming Community. So there's a scope for you becoming a game tester in any one of these gaming Companies. Please don't assume that game testing is a dream job. You have to play a single game, 8 hrs a day for a whole week. It's hard to be a game tester. But when you progress through your career, you can find the job interesting.

Ubisoft Pune

The Most popular way nowadays is to start a youtube channel. The Indian gamers are greatly interested in Game Streamers nowadays. Many Have come forward and made a successful career in youtube by streaming games. You dont have to be a Pro player to stream in youtube. The only thing which the viewers want is entertainment. The streamer has to be funny and friendly to succeed in this career. Indian Youtubers like Rakazone Gaming, Xyaa and many more have been successful in youtube and none of them are Pro Players. As India is a Diverse Country with many languages , it hasnt stopped the regional streamers having a Decent Subsriber count of 1 Lakh. Regional Streamers Like Tamil Gaming, Midfail YT are very popular in their respective languages.

Gamers are flocking to start their own channel after seeing this success in youtube. But the market for streaming has a lot of competetions. So to shine you need to pick a game which has low streamers and try to obtain audience. Don't Stream the popular games Pubg where the competetion is heavy instead do some research and try to stream a game which has Few Streamers. Above All things your content should be good and the streamer has to be funny, Entertaining and Engaging.

As more companies come to India. The gaming scene is going to be bigger than ever. With Esports growing they will surely look for more Organising Managers, Game Casters, Announcers and much more.  Just be confident and have the will to make your dreams come true, Only the gaming community that's us can change how India looks at E-sports for negativity to positive. Support the Indian E-Sports teams, who are trying their best in E-Sports. Nothing wrong being a gamer, be proud. With new sponsors and training facilities for players, India will soon dominate the E-Sports Arena.

Being Responsible:

As we have Spoke about esports and Gaming in India. We are facing a Huge issue when it comes to playing hours. We know that to pursue your dream you have to stay alive right?. We hear about gamers losing their lives by playing for long hours in India right now. This is very sad and we should proceed with caution.  There's a slim and a crucial line between Pursuing your career and getting addicted. People Be responsible We dont have to educate you on how to manage your playing hours you know it already, So just dont over do it for your sake and your family's sake. If you are going to pursue a career in gaming please be responsible. Who( World Health Organisation) has  classified that "Gaming Disorder" is a Disease. They went One step forward and even announced that they have a survey to check whether you are affected or not.

Although we disagree in many aspects on the views of Who. We should also take into consideration on where we stand as gamers. To become Pro we have to invest huge amount of time into a a particular game. But doing it safely is very important for everyone. We will share a link to this survey please check it out.

Do I play games too much? - CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE SURVEY

If you want to know about Who's Gaming Disorder Please check this Link  : Gaming Disorder

If you have your playing hours under control and if you have the skills we will be there to support you guys.

Lets Go India