Esports Are Becoming Modern Mainstream Sports: Story Ideas to Evaluate

By Naman Alok | Feb 3, 2023 | 6 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The landscape of the Esports scenario in India has changed drastically in the past few years and the credit for this majorly goes to the rise in the young population, increased use of smartphones, easy availability and accessibility of technology and internet (5G introduction), rising investment by capitalists, and appropriate distribution network. Publishers like EA, Riot, Krafton, Supercell etc are actively involved in investing and growing Esports in India. Also, now that we have many Made-in-India games developed by Indian game developers, this will be important to watch how made-in-India games strengthen their esports scene. Esports Are Becoming Modern Mainstream Sports: Story Ideas to Evaluate

We know that the esports industry in the world is taking by storm, and interestingly enough, Video Gaming has jumped to the forefront of many people’s attention after recent big developments around this sector which are mentioned below:

1. Recently, in a historic move, The Indian government has officially recognised esports in the country. Esports will now be a part of the “multisports event” category in India under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and sports.

2. International Olympic Committee has confirmed that its inaugural Olympic Esports Week will take place in Singapore between 22 and 25 June 2023.

3. Esports is going to make its debut at the Asian Games 2023 as a proper medal event, earlier in 2018 it was there as a demonstration title. The Asian Games 2022, originally scheduled for September last year, will now be held from September 23 to October 8, 2023. This multi-nation event will cement the industry mark into a mainstream sports scene. 

4. Esports has been included in the proposed list of official medal sports to be contested at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2025.

Some interesting statistics and data around the sector:

Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm covering video games, esports, and streaming in Asia and the Middle East, in their 2022 India Games Market report, found that:

• India’s PC and mobile game markets are projected to generate player spending of US$704.5 million in 2022 with 396.4 million gamers, growing to reach US$1.4 billion in 2026 with 630 million gamers

• India is the fastest growing market in Asia-10 for both revenue and gamers and it is also the second largest games market in the world by gamers, behind China

• India is a mobile-first market with 98.8% of gamers playing on the platform, accounting for 85% of total market revenue. Data costs in India are the lowest in the world and 5G has started rolling out this year.

• Indian gamers spend an average of 14.1 hours per week on mobile games and India has the highest proportion of mobile gamers across the Asia-10 region that play over 5 hours per week

• India is the second largest gamer base in the world, with 396.4 million gamers, making up 50.2% of all gamers in Asia-10. India is also the fastest growing market with a 5-year growth rate of 21% for revenue

In regard to esports data specific to India, the FICCI-EY media and entertainment report 2022 on “Tuning into consumer” information on the esports segment:

1. The number of Esports players doubled from 300,000 in 2020 to 600,000 in 2021, Esports revenue grew by 29% from INR7.5 billion in 2020 to INR9.7 billion in 2021, Esports teams also grew by over 50% from 60,000 in 2020 to 100,000 in 2021, The total prize money in 2021 crossed INR 200 million and there is also a meteoric rise in viewership, from 600,000 hours in 2020 to 2 million hours in 2021.

2. The growth seen in Esports is expected to continue in 2022, with the number of players reaching 1 million, out of which 20% would be women.  India is expected to have 10 international esports teams by 2022.

3. As a result, the interest of brands in this segment is increasing, with 72 brands investing in 2021 (up from 45 in 2020) and expected to reach 100 brands in 2022.

India is currently home to over 430 million mobile gamers and is estimated to grow to 650 million by 2025, according to the latest data provided by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). 

This is to check if we can explore a story opportunity for our below mentioned esports & gaming clients who can shed more insights on these wide topics:

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1. Esports Federation of India

Spokesperson: Mr Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), ESFI is a full member of the International Esports Federation (IESF), Global Esports Federation (GEF), and Asian Esports Federation (AESF)

2. 8bit Creatives, India’s leading esports consulting and talent agency

Spokesperson: Mr Animesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, 8Bit Creatives, Mr Animesh Agarwal, Founder, and CEO of 8Bit Creatives, India’s leading esports consulting and talent management agency.  He is also the founder of S8UL, a hub of gaming content and esports. S8UL is the parent org of team sOul, the reigning champions of BGMI in India. Animesh dons several hats as an entrepreneur, an ex-pro gamer, a monster energy esports athlete, a gaming & luxury lifestyle content creator and a pioneer in the Indian Gaming Industry. He has a deep understanding of the industry and is dedicated to shaping the esports and gaming industry in India. He has partnered with other industry front runners like Nodwin Gaming & LOCO to make substantial strides in advancing gaming & esports in India. 

His Company, 8Bit Creatives is equally making remarkable milestones in the business of content creation and brand collaborations around gaming and esports. With some of India’s top gaming talents in their line-up and backed with experience and exposure of collaborating and curating campaigns with 100+ top-notch brands like Netflix, Coca-cola, Reliance Digital, Mx Players, OnePlus, Realme Narzo, Flipkart, Airtel, and many others; 8Bit Creatives boasts of managing popular and renowned gaming content creators and influencers- Mortal, Scout, Mavi, Snax, Thug, Payal, Kaashvi, 8bit Goldy, 8bit Sid to name a few.

3. Revenant Esports, one of the fastest-growing Esports organizations in South Asia and the Middle East

Spokesperson: Rohit N Jagasia, Founder and CEO of Revenant Esports, Revenant Esports is an esports organization built from the ground up. From humble beginnings to exponential growth, the objective of Revenant Esports has been to be the leading esports company in India. Revenant Esports was founded in 2020 and it has an active roster in 6 esports titles like BGMI, Call of Duty: Mobile, Free Fire, Clash of Clans, Valorant and Pokemon Unite. The company is founded by Rohit Naresh Jagasia and the company received their last funding of $1 million in May 2021 from Adman-turned-investor Sajan Raj Kurup.

4. FanClash, Asia’s largest fantasy Esports platform

Spokesperson: Richa Singh, Co-Founder and CEO of FanClash, FanClash is Asia’s largest Esports Fantasy Platform that has 2M+ users with 5000+ daily tournaments featured on the platform. It is the go-to app for all Esports enthusiasts and professionals. With a wide variety of features, FanClash has been able to position itself as the premier Esports Fantasy Platform in the region. The platform has a plethora of features to keep the users engaged and excited. Last year, FanClash, raised $40 million in Series B funding to fuel its mission to build a global esports fantasy, data, and fan engagement platform. Existing investors along with Matic Networks (Polygon) co-led the latest fundraiser. This succeeds a Series A round of $10 million from Sequoia Capital India, Falcon Edge (Alpha Wave Ventures) and Info Edge India in August 2021.

5. Qlan – The Gamer’s Social Network

Spokesperson: Mr Sagar Nair, Co-Founder & CEO, Qlan, The app is a young setup established to bridge the need to create a one-stop networking platform that would be dedicated to the esports/gaming community. It is an exclusive platform built for the community to seamlessly connect with each other and facilitate the gaming ecosystem. The app is a one-stop solution to create custom Solo, Squad, and organisations profiles, showcase gaming skills by syncing in-game statistics, and access AI-enabled gamer matchmaking for verified connections. It also will help in sharing gaming and esports content with an option to monetize early, Promote esports tournaments and IPs to a target audience, etc.

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