Indian esports ecosystem slows down. Who is to blame?

India's gaming industry is second-largest after China with the community comprising 500 million gamers

In India, the esports ecosystem revolves around two major game titles, Krafton’s Battleground Mobile India (BGMI) and Riot Games’ first-person shooter (FPS) game Valorant. Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 has yet to make a significant impact.

IOC exec board proposes creation of “Olympic Esports Games” to IOC Session

The IOC has been engaging with esports since 2018 in a holistic way. It has chosen an approach that allows the organisation to be successful in the esports space while staying true to the values that have guided the IOC for over a century. “With respect to esports, our values are and remain the red line that we will never cross,” the IOC President said.

The IOC is already in advanced discussions with a potential host, and an announcement can be expected very soon after the last formalities have been finalised.

Why TV and digital media companies are pursuing esports IPs?

While digital streaming platforms like Rooter and Loco have always streamed gameplays and tournaments, involvement of mainstream media in televising or streaming boosts the reach, recall and engagement of these events to a whole new level. Representative Image via Unsplash

According to experts, the biggest reason behind mainstreaming of esports is that it is now reaching a much broader and diverse audience, including those who have previously never been exposed to it.

Why is Krafton taking aim at the Indian gaming market with Road to Valor: Empires?

KRAFTON’s self-developed new titles are set to connect with fans, starting from 2024. Among these, ‘Dark and Darker Mobile,’ an extraction RPG independently developed by Bluehole Studio, and ‘inZOI,’ a life simulation game featuring realistic graphics, will be the first to meet the fans. (Images sourced via Steam, Epic Games and Krafton)

Global gaming major Krafton is set to launch India-specific customizations for Road to Valor: Empires, in a bid to capture a slice of India’s rapidly growing gaming market.

Need to increase visibility of women in senior positions in gaming and esports cos: Richa Singh, FanClash

FanClash has 3M+ users with 25+ daily tournaments featured on the platform. Being a host to offer fantasy content in some of the leading tournaments around the globe including CSGO, League of Legends, and Valorant to name a few, the platform has garnered immense popularity amongst gamers from all around the world which includes a fair share of women gamers.

Richa Singh is one of the very few women leaders in the gaming and esports space in India today. But the gender ratio has to change soon, she says.

Centre releases draft rules to regulate gaming in the country

Most platforms have increased their marketing efforts before the IPL season to acquire and convert more users on the platforms.The report also stated that the average spends per user are expected to grow by 5-10 percent from Rs 410 per user in IPL 2022 to Rs 440 per user in IPL 2023. (Representative Image: Florian Olivo via Unsplash)

The draft has a strong focus on code of ethics, grievance redressal mechanism, self-regulation, furnishing of information and content guidelines.

How the Indian gaming industry is gearing up to cross $7 bn revenue by 2025

In less than two years of launching it in the country, BGMI claimed to have clocked over 100 million cumulative users shortly after a year of its launch. (Representative Image: ELLA DON via Unsplash)

Led by subscriptions, micropayments and ad revenues, gaming companies are looking at monetization more seriously