With the times changing along with the order of the world, indoor sports—particularly Esports—have become an equal necessity and important as outdoor sports have been. With the rapid advancement of technology, easily available smartphones in the market combined with cheap tariff plans giving high-speed 4G connections, the Indian online gaming industry has claimed the top spot in the world with mobile phone users being the largest community followed by computer and tablet users, in recent years.

And there are plenty of benefits in Indians taking to Esports as well: after all, these contribute to the overall development of personality, help them enhance their thinking abilities, improve their attention spans and focus, sharpen their concentration skills along with the fact that there are heavy financial rewards too, given that these are purely the games of skills.

India has a massive market for Esports given the fact that it is one of the youngest countries in terms of population and young boys and girls are constantly hooked on their phones, playing some of the other games, which even the sports authorities have come to take note of.

According to a report by Statista, India had about 365 million online gamers in the financial year 2020 and this number is expected to surge to a mind-boggling 510 million by the end of the fiscal year 2022. The massive increase in numbers of users is surely going to attract more of the industry leaders, especially those from outside India who would want to invest in both—games and infrastructure—to ensure that they cater to the world’s largest market as well.

The rapid spread of Esports and its fame among people from all generations, not just the younger ones, have even forced the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to announce that the sports will be officially recognized as a medal event. Starting with the 2022 Asian Games, the country is bound to have plenty of Esports players with the government also acknowledging and recognizing it as a sport via its body IOA.

The official recognition and inclusion of the sports will provide its players an opportunity to showcase their skills and hard work that they have put in over the last so many years. There is a huge talent pool that is developing itself and in the future, Esports is going to be an essential part of India’s sporting landscape.