Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
Rise of esports and gaming in India

How Esports and Game Streaming Forged Ahead in India?

Millennials are converting Gaming into an actual profession overhauling Indian Gaming scene. We dive deep to give you a glimpse into why and how. Read on

According to a recent report by Newzoo, a gaming analytics firm, Global Esports revenue is expected to reach $1.1 billion for 2019—mostly from advertising and sponsorships.

The Esports madness was fueled by PUBG Mobile games in India. In other parts of the world Esports gaming has seen a steady rise since 2010’s with various gaming giants are designing and funding gaming tournaments.

Esports as a genre has got the attention of advertisers and sponsors across Industries. Recently, luxury fashion retailer LVMH collaborated with League of Legend’s makers Riot Games to launch a LOL inspired capsule collection.

Along with Esports Game Streaming (live streaming of a gameplay session) too saw the rise of gaming content creators, especially on Youtube in 2019. From streaming PUBG Mobile to GTA 5, the Indian Gaming community is heavily invested in game streaming and making a career out of it. There are tons of both small and big streamers from India that can be found on Youtube. Ranging from highlights to news updates to streaming for hours, Indians are doing everything.

And so are the advertisers and marketers recently, Naman ‘Mortal’ Mathur, the face of Indian Gaming Community became the first gamer to feature on the December cover of MensXP. For India, that’s a first!

Naman Mortal Mathur

Esports and Gaming have been accepted and respectable career option outside India. In 2014 streamer Mike ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek aka ‘the God of aim’ came into limelight when Shroud steeped into the competitive gaming with Esports giant Cloud9 and got converted into Esport star. However, considering Gaming as a career option was always a taboo for Indian society. But now, the millennials are setting new trend following their passion for video games and converting Gaming into an actual profession overhauling Indian Gaming scene.

It all changed after the PUBG Mobile Star Challenge 2018 in which 2 Indian teams namely TeamIND and 8Bit represented India at the Global level. Ever since the two Indian teams played at the Global Finals, Esports and Game Streaming have seen a rise which seems to be getting even bigger by the day.

It is the first time since the evolution of mankind that Indian parents are sort of comfortable with their child playing video games all day long. More and more parents are coming in support with their child’s passion for games and even helping them out build a career out of it. 

So what is the hype? Let’s find out

Esports India:

Esports aka competitive gaming has witnessed a rapid growth in India in the past year or so with many professional teams like 8Bit, Soul, EntityGaming and others making a name for themselves around the world. The sport has become so popular in the country that even gigantic Esports organizations like Fnatic are now sponsoring and investing in Indian professional players/teams.

Indian teams in esports

Interestingly, if you consider PUBG Mobile is the only popular Esports in India that’s not the case. PUBG Mobile just triggered the growth of already existing professional gaming community in India. Many popular PC games like DOTA2, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, FIFA and other popular LAN games already existed.

Talking about statistics, a report by Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG) and Professional Service Network KPMG suggests that India is predicted to have 628 million gamers by 2020. The report states that the Indian Gaming Industry is already worth INR 43.8 billion which is believed to rise further to INR 118.8 billion by FY23 with a growth rate of CAGR 22.1 percent.

Meaning, the professional gamers in India are going to be a part of a bigger economic eco-system.

Game Streaming in India:

Who doesn’t remember the social media followers fight of the decade T Series Vs PewDiePie. It’s understood that T-series is a music record label and can’t be compared with Swedish YouTuber and comedian Pwedipie, but it clearly shows the influence of Indian audience on Youtube.

Popular Indian streamers like Dynamo, Carryminati, ScoutOP, and more who started streaming video games only about a year ago have managed to gather millions of subscribers in a short span on time with all their hard work and dedication towards gaming. Indian news daily Economic Times recently reported YouTube in India has recorded 265 million monthly active users and over 1200 channels from Indian creators have crossed the one million subscribers in 2019.

Now, if we are to highlight any Indian gamers’ career it would be none other than Naman Mathur aka Mortal, the heartbeat of Indian Gaming Community. Mortal originally started his Youtube channel back in September 2013 when he used to upload Mini Militia highlights. But it wasn’t until October 2018 that his ‘Every PUBG player will watch this Ending.’ gameplay video went viral. Mortal impressed the Indian audience with his gameplay and humble nature. It only took around 3-4 months and in no time Mortal reached a million subscribers (remember more subscribers equals to more money).

During the Dreamhack 2019, TeamSoul consisted of Mortal, Viper, Raunak, and Owais rose to fame when they won 2 back to back matches in the tournament. They further went on to win the PMIS 2019 and PMCO Regionals 2019 and represented India at the PMCO Spring Split Global Finals 2019.

Mortal hugely inspired the young Indian generation as more and more people started opting for Esports professional gaming as a career alongside game streaming. And now, India is one of the fastest-growing Esports attractions all around the world with brands like OnePlus, Vivo, PUBG Esports and others investing both time and money.

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