Year in Review: Esports and online gaming industry witnesses phenomenal growth in 2020, thanks to COVID-19

New Delhi, December 24: The esports sector was one of the few which witnessed a surge during the COVID-19 lockdown and subsequent months. With people getting confined inside their houses and outdoor activities getting reduced to nil due to the pandemic, the ever-increasing tech-savvy customers found solace in esports and online gaming platforms.

A large segment of people - who tried little or no hands at all in esports and online games due to their hectic life schedule - found solace in esports and online games. The industry had been witnessing a surge as smartphones started reaching almost every household, but the year 2020 proved to a milestone year for this sector due to obvious reasons.

The industry is getting bigger with every passing month and will continue taking an upward curve in the year 2021. Answering to a questionnaire sent by MyKhel, Mr Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India, narrated at length about the positives from 2020 and the new horizons, the sector is going to touch in the new year.

Here are the excerpts:

My Khel: How has this year been for the online gaming and esports industry in India?

Lokesh Suji: In India, over the course of 2020 with Covid-19 lockdown in place, we saw a boom in digital entertainments and esports is one of them. The ongoing COVID situation has propelled the penetration of esports to more and more people. The esports industry witnessed the highest spike in player participation, watch time & viewership in this year.

MK: Growth of esports during the lockdown?

LS: While business sectors across the world have been virtually brought to a grinding halt by the stay-at-home mandate to prevent the spread of the contagious COVID-19, the esports or electronic sports industry, on the contrary, is on a roll. The current pandemic, for the most part, has shifted the entire esports set-up online. The overall growth of esports industry is phenomenal this year.

MK: What are the plans for the next year and how are you going to achieve the goal?

LS: Esports now been included in Asian Games 2022 and once the game titles are announced, we will start getting our teams ready; last time we got bronze this time we have to get Gold.
Other than this our focus is to expand in coaching and training for which we are already in discussions with some leading agencies. You will also find certified Referees this year which will be India's first.

We have already rolled out our National Rankings for games like Call of Duty-Mobile, Valorant, Free Fire, we will be adding more games in the new year. ESFI is working closely with other fellow National Esports Federations of South Asia, and will jointly launch South Asia Championship, which will give our athletes international exposure also. We will be working more closely with the game publishers and developers as they are the key to our esports.

MK: How government's/court's latest guidelines on online gaming will impact the industry?

LS: Though as esports, we don't have any relation with egaming/igaming, since Niti Ayog has rolled out a draft, the discussion on regulation and guidelines should be focused on both fantasy sports and real money gaming (all the aspects of egaming/igaming). The framework of rules & regulations must be there where there is a monetary involvement by the playing side on a particular platform. We are a sport because the physicality of responses of our participants leads to the result of a winner.

And esports is essentially a speed competition. The business model of esports depends majorly on three aspects - media rights, sponsorship & merchandising.

Esports should not be confused with Teen Patti, Fantasy, Rummy, poker, online gaming, gambling or real money gaming or for that matter playing casual games like ludo etc.

MK: What are the checks and balances the industry is planning to put to ensure the gamers aren't cheated?

LS: Our game developers themselves have a lot of mechanisms to prevent cheating, and there are the world's top global game developers. A lot of it any which ways taken care off, still we have referees and admins who keep a constant track so as to detect any such activity and stop it.

MK: What is the target of Esports community in the coming year?

LS: The esports community wants and requires esports to be recognised by the government as a sport in India, to gain the benefits any sports community and athletes would receive, these misconceptions are hurdles towards that goal. Currently, Esports in India is considered as entertainment and not a sport, the government is yet to recognize it as a sport. Esports athletes, organizers and everyone involved end up paying a 35% entertainment tax because of this, whereas the sports tax in India is at 20%.

This itself hampers the growth of esports in our country in a significant way, as players are not given the (sports quota) which sportspersons are eligible or esports do not enjoy the recognition and benefits of being a competitive sport as yet in India. The Ministry of Sports should immediately recognize Esports as a sport like our neighboring countries Sri Lanka, Pakistan & Nepal have done.