The world of eSports continues to grow in many places, from the biggest countries down to the smallest, and one of the biggest countries in the world that has seen a rise is India. There is no doubt that the pandemic of 2020 helped eSports gain even more fans globally, with people turning to competitive gaming because it was one of the few sports remaining, with players taking part from home.
The best guesses in India show that viewership in the country has doubled in 2020, meaning that 17 million Indian people are now watching eSports. There is growth in money too, which is attracting new people into the industry, prize pools were estimated to have grown 25-30% at the same time.
We are seeing a big change in India, with a lot of new pastimes coming into people’s lives. Certainly, one of those is esports, though others are out there, and just like esports, many of them have a link to gambling, such as the online lottery in India, which some people are turning towards now. Many various industries will be hoping they can claim big numbers from India in the coming years, and eSports is certainly one of those.
How Esports Can Grow Further in India
Much of how esports grows in India could come down to the work of one man, or those who try to replicate what he is doing. That man is Animesh Agarwal, who is a professional esports player, but has now turned his attention elsewhere, to try and bring through the next gaming talent via his Indian talent agency.
He still participates in selected worldwide tournaments and will continue to make a name for himself there. However, in terms of what he does overall, and the bigger picture, his biggest impact would be if he was able to create a stream of gaming talent coming through his agency in India and taking on the best in the world.
This would then hopefully create a domino effect, where youngsters are seeing their peers head out around the world to play eSports, and they too want to be a part of the action. Should this happen, other people would also move in to try and replicate Agarwal, and that would then feed into the growing eSports market in India that we are already seeing form.
The Future of Worldwide Esports
The future of esports as a whole looks very promising. The rise in mobile gaming is certainly helping with that too, making things even more accessible. We are seeing players and teams pop up all over the world, which will hopefully continue in the near future.
The biggest nations, such as India, have a duty to continue this, and if they do, they are going to really push forward eSports worldwide, and bring a vast number of new people on board. Whether this is players, fans who watch, developers, or anyone else, if the big countries produce, eSports is only going to keep moving forward.
