ESPORTS IS THE NEW TREND!

As Esports continues to be recognised as a proper sporting career path in many regions of the world, most of India still lacks the mentality to promote competitive gaming as a sport on its own. Esports Federation of India (ESFI) director Lokesh Suji, who believes Esports is the only sport that can outrun cricket, India’s most popular sport right now, shares his mind with  some big newspaper companies on hurdles that are stopping India from making the most of the vast gaming potential of the country.

Esports is different from casual gaming

One of the primary barriers in India is the confusion over what can and cannot be classified as Esports. Competitive Esport games like Dota, FIFA, Counter-Strike or Fortnite are often put in the same boat as games like Teen Patti, Rummy, Poker and Fantasy Sports, which are more casual, chance-based titles, sometimes allowing players to make real-life money.

Suji refers to these titles as igaming and not Esports and suggests they cannot be compared. “Esports is a sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA),” he shares, adding that Esports will be a medal sport in Asian Games’22. “Esports is solely dependent on your own skill. You cannot win in a video game competition of FIFA (a video game series based on football) by chance. You need to have the skill to win,” explains Suji.

“There are 100+ countries that have Esports federations working under their sports framework,” says Suji speaking on the growth of Esports in many other countries. Malaysia, he says, has allocated a budget equivalent of Rs 50 Crore for Esports development. “Governments of countries like Korea, Denmark, Finland, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Macedonia, Ukraine, Brazil, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Georgia, South Africa, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, etc, have already recognised Esports as a sport and have put it under the sports framework and policies.”

However, the sport still awaits government backing in India. Suji explains that when Esports was a part of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta as a demonstrative event, India won the Bronze Medal. ”India will be the next powerhouse for Esports. We have approximately 300 million Esports enthusiasts,” Suji says, mentioning that the growth of Esports in India was clearly visible throughout the 2020 covid pandemic, in events, streaming and viewership.