E-Sports becoming a ‘good career option’ in India; 1.5 million pro players by 2025

2023 looks set to be a banner year for eSports – competitive tournaments and online gaming leagues – in India. A welcome move Government of India has officially recognized ‘E-Sports’ (Electronic Sports) as part of multi-sport events. After all, eSports players prepare rigorously for competitions and focus not only on mental but also on physical fitness, especially endurance, just like other athletes. According to a study of eSports athletes by scientists, eSports athletes are exposed to similar physical stresses as “normal” athletes.

This development plays a key role in getting esports out of the heavy veils of the misconception that it’s just a passion. India’s eSports market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 46% to more than quadruple from Rs 2.5 billion in 2021 to Rs 11 billion by 2025. The popularity of esports can be seen in the number of fans, which was 532 million in 2022 worldwide.

Some of the factors driving the growth of eSports include:

Maturing infrastructure: Gaming infrastructure is maturing, whether it’s the game studios that produce and publish the game, the developers who keep updating them or adding new features, the cloud or dedicated server providers that host the games, or the end devices that are used to play.

The smoothness of the game depends on the performance of the device used. At the end of the day, winning an F1 race is not entirely dependent on the ability of the driver, which of course plays an important part, but it is equally dependent on the car. The same principle applies to e-sports. No matter how good the team is or how advanced the rest of the infrastructure is, if the final device – the gaming computer – is not powerful enough, it can lead to the team losing the competition.

Interestingly, storage space plays an important role in computer performance. From slow loading times to frozen screens, lack of storage space or the right kind of storage space has a detrimental effect on gaming. Additionally, the lack of storage space forces players to remove existing games from their library to make room for new titles, and many players may find this a debilitating decision. With the right gaming hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD) or microSDTM card, gamers can store more and keep their library growing without having to delete their favorite games.

Connectivity: A fast and reliable network connection is absolutely essential for high performance gamers such as eSports events. A team can lose a major esports event because of bad Ping. Latency determines how quickly controller or mouse input is registered over the Internet and executed on the screen.

Also, when a large number of fans – and this can reach millions – log in to enjoy an eSports tournament or cheer on their favorite teams, the importance of a reliable connection with low latency increases. The spread of 4G has given birth to eSports in the country.

Talent: Talented players make all the difference between winning and losing an event. They need to make split-second decisions and think strategically, even when the environment can be stressful. In the past, it might have been difficult for young players to become top eSports players due to many factors such as not being able to get the right equipment, patchy connections, or no one coaching them. But today, thanks to talent agencies, agents and promoters, young players even from rural India are getting noticed and getting access to the right infrastructure and coaches. Although still a small number of players get promoters and earn profitably, it is still a positive sign. Just as gaming has become mainstream in recent years, it has the potential to become mainstream in the future as more and more players get noticed and make it to the big leagues.

Indian gaming industry and eSports are on their way to a better tomorrow. The players or players will get the necessary support and the infrastructure will mature. The government’s policy gives an additional impetus to the growth of this sector. With the growth in the number of eSports tournaments and the increase in the prize pool, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 66% to reach Rs 1 billion by 2025, the number of professional players is projected to reach 1.5 million by 2025. eSports will become a lucrative career option for future generations of players.

By: Jaganathan Chelliah, Marketing Director, India, Middle East and TIA

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