It has been a rather good year for the esports community of India. The prize money and number of tournaments have significantly increased compared to the last years; however the biggest gain for the ecosystem is surely the visibility that it has garnered. More and more organisations are now keen on investing in the esports scene of the country while creating IPs which are likely to be beneficial in the near future.
During the recently concluded Summer finale of the ESL India Premiership, two foreign teams took home the bragging rights and the crown for two of the country’s favourite esports titles namely Dota 2 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
UAE-based, Risky Gaming reigned over the CS:GO crown while Team IQ from Cambodia won the Dota 2 title. With more participation from foreign teams it is clear that India is as an esports destination is gaining repute internationally too.
Apparently going by the trend worldwide, Indian teams and organisations are now more open to hiring foreign players in domestic teams. One of India’s more prominent esports organisations, Entity Gaming, has hired three players from the Philippines to fill out its Dota 2 squad alongside two Indian players.
Similarly, another Dota 2 squad has been launched by COBX Gaming under the banner of Signify which includes two players from India, two from Philippines and one from Australia. The two Indian players in their squad are already known in the gaming circuit, Raunak ‘Crowley’ Sen and Moin ‘No_Chanc3’ Ejaz have been in the scene for a while and have been parts of bigger organisations like Entity Gaming and Oblique Gaming. The venture is owned by Rajdip Gupta.
Kunal Borse, who is an avid gamer and follows the Indian esports scene, says: “I think for any upcoming country, team or organisation who wants to achieve something big in esports the major thing they lack is experience which these foreign players have plenty and I think it’s a good thing because Indian players can learn a lot from them and not only just improve their solo game play but as well as their team work and strategies to match the international level.”
“India is currently booming in esports. Some great esports tournaments like ESL India Premiership, Dew Arena, ROG Masters, Taiwan Excellence Cup offer awesome cash prizes & fame for winning teams/players. Worldwide major tournaments keep happening too however most of these tournaments are won by International teams with India managing to win only a few national tournaments. Even the ESL India Premiership Summer Season – team game titles were bagged by Cambodia and UAE teams. We can look at this as the change Indian organisations are trying in order to achieve championship success both nationally and internationally.
These players together with top players from our country are definitely capable of creating powerful teams who can impact global esports and its good for our community as well, our teams also get more exposure facing them in multiple tournaments,” says Nodwin Gaming esports head Anup Dustakar.
The players from both the teams are currently boot-camping in Mumbai on business visas. This gives the Indian esports scenario a further boost in reaching global audiences while its broadcast on Indian television screens through USports’ upcoming league UCypher would help it in the country.
AFK Gaming has been an industry tracker for esports and has gained quite the authenticity for its work. Co-founder Nishant Patel perfectly sums up the scenario saying: “Investment into Indian esports is at an all time high this year. Many organizations believe that reaching the next level requires widening the net to SEA (South East Asian) players – a move that I’m in complete support of. Even global esports teams usually consist of players of multiple nationalities so why restrict ourselves by geographical boundaries?”
Amen to that!
