15 March 2023, New Delhi: The National Esports Championships (NESC) 2023, which will be held online and hosted by the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) to choose the Indian contingent for the next 15th World Esports Championships (WEC) in Iasi, Romania, will begin today (March 15). The qualifiers will be run by ESFI’s event partner Upthrust Esports, with a total of 275 athletes competing across all four titles – CS:GO, DOTA 2, Tekken7, and eFootball 2023. National Esports Championship 2023 will choose the Indian contingent for the 15th Global Esports Championship, which begins today.
In a historic first, the country’s top female CS:GO athletes will compete in the NESC for the first time to clinch a spot at WEC 2023. While the open CS:GO qualifiers will feature 21 teams (127 athletes), the women’s qualifiers will feature only two teams (11 athletes). DOTA 2 will have six teams (33 athletes) competing against each other, whilst single-player titles such as Tekken7 and eFootball 2023 will feature 72 and 32 players, respectively.
“We are happy to witness the enormous reaction for NESC 2023 from the male as well as female athletes in the country. The presence of such talented players will provide India with the drive to outperform all expectations at the World Esports Championships. The qualifiers will be an entertaining event featuring high-quality gaming and thrilling moments as each athlete gives it their all to participate on the biggest of venues. “Everyone at the Esports Federation of India wishes the competitors the best of luck and is looking forward to the qualifiers,” stated Vinod Tiwari, President of the Esports Federation of India.
The eligible teams from CS:GO and DOTA 2 will participate in the Asia Regionals in May and June, while the champions of Tekken7 and eFootball 2023 will advance directly to the tournament’s global finals.
The WEC 2023 will have a prize pool of $500,000 (INR 4.12 crore) and will be the tournament’s largest edition to date, with at least 130 countries expected to compete. The prestigious tournament’s global finals will be held from August 24 to September 4, 2023.
Artsmith-Concepts & Visions, one of the country’s leading sports and esports communication companies, will continue to support the Esports Federation of India as its official communication partner.
Live coverage of the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals will be available on ESFI’s YouTube, Facebook, and Glance Gaming channels.