Feb 14, 2017 | Business

Arguably, one of the first game designing companies in India, Nazara Games has delved into the country’s latest buzz, E-sports. The Mumbai-based company registered 19.4 million downloads on Play Store in 2016, making them the most successful mobile game developer in India. They will be investing $20 million (Rs 36 crore) over a duration of five years, in three competitive games – Counter-Strike Global Offensive, DOTA 2 and League of Legends.

Nazara Games CEO Manish Agarwal said, “In-app purchases on mobile will take quite a long time to arrive in India in the mobile section. I would say about 18 months, but games like CS and DOTA have 4.5 million players, out of which 20% play very seriously.
“Our target audience is a very urban crowd which consumes media on digital platforms and not the TV. We have analysed how e-sports works, and we want to create a spectator sport out of it, which is not currently large scale in India.”

He added, “Our basic goal is to create an online content platform, more than a sport we see a platform to create media and entertainment. We also want to create a portal for gamers in the country, especially the serious ones. We agree that we are not aware of this platform, since we were always mobile first. But, we are shortlisting other companies from abroad with expertise in such production.”
In case you didn’t know…

Ronnie Screwvala-backed USports also announced an e-sports league with an investment of Rs 100 crore, which was touted as the biggest in India. However, this particular Nasara injection makes it the biggest yet. The kings of this particular sector are NODWIN Gaming, who have acquired the rights of Electronic Sports League (ESL) and hosted two major tournaments last year.

However, there has been a substantial increase in the tournament prize money available from a player’s perspective. In 2014, the Indian esports ecosystem only presented as much as Rs 12 lakh as a reward. In 2016, it climbed upto Rs 78 lakh. With the injection of such unheard sums of money, a meteoric rise could be visualised for India’s newest sport.
The heart of the matter

Agarwal said, “We scanned the market well, and let’s be honest there is hardly anything there for something with so much potential. Leagues and tournaments happened, but where are you developing the talent? They are your biggest asset. Once they start competing against the world’s best, then the crowd will be attracted automatically. By that, I don’t mean only India, but the entire world. That’s the beauty of esport, it transcends boundaries.”

He added, “The target is to grow the community, then the model will grow on its own.” Twitch confirmed that esports viewers crossed the 100 million mark in 2016, putting it in the top 10 of the most viewed sports in the world. It finishes ahead of several popular sports such as Gymnastics, motorsports and yours truly, cricket.”
Sportskeeda’s Take

Massive amounts of money have been invested within India’s esports ecosystem, however, it remains to be seen whether the sport can be monetised or not. One of the cornerstones of success for a sport like kabaddi was the rural population. Let’s not forget, India is still 75% rural, which means for a sport to garner mass appeal it must transcend the rural-urban divide.

But, for esports to catch up with the rural crowd, at least for the first five years seems relatively illogical. That being said, it gives a platform for gamers who have been representing India abroad for the past decade. It also indicates a global approach to garner viewership as it is not restricted to TV.