Esports in India 2021
As the popularity and frequency of esports tournaments grow, esports is often confused with online gaming. The need for an electronic device and online multiplayer game fuels the misnomer. However, esports is not online gaming. Unlike online gaming, esports is defined by online games of skill that are played in tournaments – different teams and individuals playing against each other to win the championship, league, title like physical sports. Esports also includes games which are the digital/virtual manifestations of traditional sports.
Esports is more versatile and adaptable than regular sports, and its tournaments vary in scale, operations and frequency
Furthermore, esports is indistinguishable from traditional sports. In esports, games are monitored; and participants are actively playing and using their skills to win the championship. Like traditional sports, excelling at esports requires hand-eye coordination, attention, visual processing, executive function and strategy development. All of that perfectly combined with well-timed responses to game stimuli helps players excel and grow in the space.
As a sport, it has steadily gained popularity with youth, and consequently has become an attractive option for brands to connect with young and empowered audiences. As a game of skill accessible indoors and on the ubiquitous mobile phone, it gained much popularity during the lockdowns witnessed in 2020 and 2021. And as a mode of entertainment, it continues to serve hard core gamers as well as social gamers who wish to get competitive.
Future of esports in India
Though at a nascent stage, the esports market size in India has quickly scaled to INR3 billion in FY2021 and we expect it to reach INR11 billion by FY2025. However, the sport has a much larger economic impact: we expect it to generate economic value of around INR100 billion between now and FY2025.