Esports streaming will help change the mindset of people towards gaming.
In India, when it comes down to action and strategy-based competitive gaming, the current generation has a huge potential. But somewhere the amount of infrastructure for esports or hype for taking it as a career lacks the stigma and hence continues to struggle. Though the amount of gaming expertise is increasing in India along with many new esports startups emerging, Indian esports has a great potential that is not yet unleashed. With the Asian Video Games 2022 around the corner, the preparation for participation or excitement as an audience accelerates with time.
Addressing the culture of esports in India, Akshat Rathee, cofounder of Nodwin Gaming speaks about esports and how streaming video games is more than just delivering content to the audience. Breaking the orthodox belief, many Indian gamers have been successful in choosing their career in esports. But, even today, esports or video gaming is considered not more than recreation by most Indians. Rathee’s main message to the Indians is esports is more than just a source for recreation and through esports streaming, the mentality of common people can be moulded and more Indians will be able to take it up as a career.
Esports streaming as a career
Rathee gives a very strong and impactful explanation of how the mentality of Indian people towards sports has changed with time. He says, before 1983, the hype for cricket was not as much as we witness now. The love for cricket and an enormous follower base started building up after Indian won the World Cup in 1983. So, once a sport that wasn’t even a topic of discussion in most Indian households now sends their kids for cricket coaching. And, the most significant reason for this change in perception is the victory of 1983. Because it gave people evidence to believe that investing in sports might bear a fruitful result.
Rathee says, “With greatness and nice performances which might be publicly obtainable, comes the need for glory and legitimacy. ” It’s not just cricket that has become very popular in India, but after Viswanathan Anand became a famous Chess player and won several tournaments representing India, the followers kept increasing. This is how Rathee explains the importance of streaming as esports is no different from cricket, tennis, or chase. Indian will be waiting for the video game records in Asian Video Games 2022 and some of the esports titles that are most likely to be added are Counter-Strike: International Offensive, DOTA 2, etc.
Esports is more than Asian Video Games
While India bagged a bronze medal in Asian Video Games 2018 in esports, the participation is predicted to increase by several folds this year. As Rathee said, a sign of triumph escalates the enthusiasm among people. But, the interest in Asian Video Games 2022 doesn’t account for how many Indians are exactly inclined towards esports. There are many video gaming opportunities that are eventually opening up for potential Indian gamers who could play at a professional level. But, there should be overwhelming participation in esports like we observe in cricket or football.
A few days ago, ASUS announced the ROG Academy Programme to bring out the best of Indian video gamers and train them at a professional level. Many similar initiatives are taken by many other companies out there to improve the gaming culture in Indian and put it out there that it can be chosen as a valid profession. There are many great Indian gamers who with proper training and infrastructure can give a tough competition worldwide especially in tournaments of CS: GO, Valorant, PUBG, etc.
Streaming as a profession
Streaming enables a content producer to deliver quality content to the audience. In India, gaming content that reaches out to common people is negligible. Two reasons for this is there aren’t many streaming companies in India (recently a few startups have been established) and even today most Indian people have not accepted gaming as a profession.
When PUBG wasn’t banned in India, many famous streamers like Mortal and Dynamo Gaming had huge popularity in India. But, when speaking of esports, it is more than just playing PUBG. So, the overall esports culture has to be uplifted so that apart from avid gamers, esports content reaches out to the general public.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more