“ Improvise, adapt, overcome ", that has really been the motto of the E-Sports in the current pandemic scenario. E-Sport or an Electronic Sport is used to describe competitive video gaming, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams.
Condition of Physical Sports Amid Pandemic
Throughout the world of professional sports, many traditional leagues like the National basketball association, Major League Baseball shocked the world when they decided to suspend their practices and some leagues. The impact hit just as hard in E-sports.
Events that included the physical presence of the competitors were canceled like League of Legends, Overwatch, DOTA 2. It seemed like the Esports industry would follow the full suspension model just like traditional sports. The market researcher's Global Esports market report initially estimated that the industry would generate 1.1 billion dollars in 2020, but that figure has been now updated to 950.3 million dollars. Some experts even predicted that this loss of revenue would likely destroy the industry's footprint.
Later Improvisation in ESports
But contrary to this, Esports is proving much more resilient in this global pandemic situation than any other sport. Unlike other sports, these competitive gaming allows more flexibility, and many leagues and competitions shifted towards online participation and streaming. The outcome of this play from home format was booming. Where other traditional sports were struggling in their operations, E-sports being the only competitive gaming alternative stood like a giant in these adverse situations.
Accommodation With ESports
This step of E-sports leads to many major trends like the rise of youth and amateurs in Esports. Many school kids and the young audience started moving in the online gaming and streaming section to increase their social interaction and competition. Parents also begin to engage with their kids just like any traditional sports.
The most popular Esports game, DOTA-2 has a prize pool of nearly 34 million US Dollars which is equivalent to 250 crore rupees. Since the shutdown began, YouTube gaming saw an increase of about 15%. Despite the E-sport's primary monetization stream which was sponsorship, these numbers prevented the industry from a huge collapse and sustain its growth despite some setbacks.
ESports - A Potential Part of India Market
Esports has a huge potential in the Indian market, given that India has a decent distribution of consumers and players, thanks to the high youth population. According to a BARC And Nielson report, the number of Smartphone game users per week went from 60% in pre-Covid times to 68% during the lockdown. The E-sports segment within online gaming witnessed growth in India.
Many Esports games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty, DOTA-2, Fortnite saw a significant rise in Indian challengers. The aggregate revenue of Esport companies in India reached 500 Crore in FY2020, as per INC42 Plus analysis of 36 companies. The prime reason for participation from Indian players can be higher income potential in the sector. The most popular Esports in India is PUBG Mobile, with approximately 50 million Indian players, which forced the Gaming companies to organize Esports tournaments in various parts of the country.
In today's world, E-sports is emerging as a perfect career option. Naman Mathur, an Indian Esports player popularly known as 'Mortal', earns around 12 lakh from gaming at the age of 24 only. According to a Frost and Sullivan report, the Indian Esports audience is 2 million, which is expected to grow at the rate of 5 times by next year. The total Esports prize money grew from INR 77 lakh to INR 384 lakh in 3 years.
ESports Are Not 'Real Sports'?
Many people argue that Esports is not ‘real sports’, rather they are just computer games. It's fascinating to hear commentators covering live video game battles. Even if someone has no idea of what's going on, it's hard not to appreciate the commitment of players and the battle atmosphere.
Anything that has a strong competitive format requires a specific set of skills, great-hand-eye coordination and training is a sport. To argue that Esports is not 'real sports' is an insult to the players. Sports such as football and E-sports such as DOTA-2 both require the same level of concentration, training, competitiveness, and most of all the feeling of satisfaction. Sure, it's just pixels on the screen and not real people, but the main ingredients of sports are all mostly there.
The Bottom Line
People believe that because it lacks direct physicality, fails to employ decisive whole-body control and skills, and cannot contribute to the development of the whole body. But even if you are a non-believer in the exploding realm of E-sports, you can find a certain element of entertainment in highlighted clips online.
Esports has been another way of surviving 2020 at its best. So guess what, until the point, one can balance Esports in life like any other commodity at avail, keep gaming!
Read about how Esports could be a future of sports.
Written By - Vedanshi Saini
Edited By - Pavas Shrigyan
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