How Online Gaming And E-Sports Becoming India’s Rising Soft Power

India’s soft power prowess on the world stage includes various aspects of its diverse culture and rich civilization. Additionally, India’s tech minds and engineers gracing Silicon Valley add another jewel to India’s soft power crown. 

With the rise of iGaming, not just a form of entertainment but a medium for skilling and competing at international events, the country is also now on the path to becoming a leader in the dynamic world of online gaming and e-sports. 

E-sports, or electronic sports, are organised multiplayer games that use online platforms to facilitate and establish teams and competitions between gamers, sports fans, and e-sports enthusiasts. 

In India, popular e-sports include Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games such as Dota 2 and League of Legends and other fantasy sports like FIFA and racing. Additionally, first-person shooter/battle royale games such as Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, and BGMI have an incessantly growing user and fan base accruing into an ardent community of gamers. 

The digital playgrounds are more than just a source of amusement, it’s also a strong weapon for soft power, promoting a good image of India’s technical prowess and an upskilling youth. 

Consequently, India witnessed a significant wave of E-sports platforms sprouting with the internet and smartphones penetrating deep amongst the Indian populace to cater to an active demand from a rising youth population.  

Indian Government: Building On The Bridges

The government took note of this development and provided legal recognition to multi-sport events in India on December 27, 2022. India’s startup and tech-savvy population has the potential to become a hotspot for innovation and progress amongst the developer and entrepreneur community as E-sports, a part of internet gaming gains prominence. 

Thus, clear and consistent policies are necessary to promote innovation and growth within the iGaming industry.

The iGaming is to be treated as any game that requires to be played on mobile or net connectivity of any device with players sitting in remote places or there are even joints that organise such group games hosting various E-sports and iGaming competitions. 

Nonetheless, the concerns surrounding social evils such as iGaming and E-sports platforms can be addressed through platforms themselves with in-built precautionary settings and mechanisms. 

For instance, gamers under the age of 18 years, as suggested, should abide by healthy hours of gaming, which can also be ensured through parenting controls and advisory mechanisms built-in with apps and platforms along with blocking mechanisms in the device. Moreover, for those above 18 years, the filters can be further customised to include monitoring for time and monetary spending. 

However, with the increasing relevance of E-sports, it is now acceptable that these are indeed games of skill gaining recognition at the international multiplayer gaming events with the Asian Games 2022 hosting a medal event underscoring the same. 

Thus, making a point that these games are not games of chance but require a high degree of skills for gamers to perform, compete and win. Even though money is involved, it cannot be considered blindly as betting. Rather, it is a mechanism for putting the money and using and honing the skills towards winning the game.

Merging The Divide Between Virtual And Physical

The emergence of various iGaming and E-sports platforms is merging the divide between the virtual and physical worlds. The professional games and the teams that compete in physical games and leagues around the world are now also catering to online audiences and sports enthusiasts by indulging them in fantasy and E-sports. 

Thus, the era of virtual games has hit the ground running. E-sports such as FIFA, NBA 2K, battle games, etc. have graduated from iGaming and can be played informally, casually, or competitively. Thus, E-sports is organised by competitive leagues and tournaments and need more honing up of skills. Here the audience is multifold to iGaming and so are the cash prizes involved.

Recognition As Game Of Skill

Some parents encourage their children to join e-sports to hone skills of concentration, information analytics, cognitive skills, timely decision-making, problem-solving, and group play. 

The YMCAs and Clubs offer and organise such competitions frequently. But then let us not undermine that it is a sedentary activity. iGaming, the game of skill distinguished from the game of chance, has thrown up opportunities to develop more and more games that can be e-sports. It is an opportunity for developers of games and the platform operators.

‍The awareness of restricting hours, screen size, and distance for the betterment of vision, honing skills, and monetary spending by gamers need a conscious effort by the iGaming platforms to ensure precautions and advocacy, parenting controls for children, and awareness of all the above for adults.

Nonetheless, it is not just an obligation of the iGaming platforms to rightly advocate and fill the gaps to spread accurate awareness about technological advancements, gaming mechanisms, and correct parenting in the case of children. 

The developments in technology throughout history have proven to rapidly spread awareness, knowledge, and rules of the games to the remotest corners and with time also guarantee the growth of iGaming and E-sports into legal and organised e-sport activities. 

Opportunity Ahead

In India, smartphones are widespread with 60% of the population gaining accessibility and the market is further expected to reach INR 231 Bn by 2035. Additionally, for the developers’ community, the CAGR is 20% which in itself speaks of the growth potential of the iGaming sector with increasing investments in emerging technologies. 

Online gamers are already at 442 Mn, which is next to China, with one-fourth of them being avid or regular players. There are already 400 gaming companies graduating to e-sports and players are expected to double up in the coming five years from 600,000 in 2022 to 1,500,00 by 2027. 

Hence, India has the market as well as developers. That is the best combination and evidence for encouraging and developing a responsible gaming platform for E-sports and iGaming becoming India’s next soft power element. 

To disaggregate, the e-sports market alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18% in the coming 10 years from the existing market size of $200 Mn in 2023. The market size is expected to grow four times. This potential can be fully tapped by ensuring credible, consistent regulation and taxation norms. 

To further fuel the development of iGaming as India’s soft power and add it to the existing prowess of India’s IT superiority and excellence, continuous investment into the sector becomes crucial. Thus, it is an opportunity for India to attract and welcome iGaming investors and platforms to invest in India’s skilled minds and youth, do business in a transparent and regulated market and create jobs within India by investing in the country and its people. 

By adequately regulating the iGaming industry, the government can unlock other positive outcomes as well, such as increased tax revenues, economic growth via attracting more foreign investments, job creation, and better consumer protection. Thus, the rising significance of the iGaming sector and investors encouraging the developers to come up with more and more innovative learning games to move from just battle games can further build comprehensive skills amongst the players. 

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