The Indian government has officially recognised e-sports in the country. It will now be a part of the “Multisports Event” category in India as categorised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), said that with the latest announcement and India competing for medals at the inaugural Esports Asian Games, people are shaking off the misconceptions linked with e-sports as a passion or career option.
“The year 2023 beholds greater opportunities for e-sports and we are anticipating more favorable developments, only making it bigger. It surely has been a great year for Indian e-sports. We have been constantly working on establishing the difference between e-sports and i-Gaming, and finally, our efforts have been fulfilled. We welcome this announcement by our government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, which will open new avenues to pour in more investment opportunities in this booming industry. From now onwards, we will have to build the proper infrastructure, training facilities and coaching for our young e-sports athletes. Only a short time until we see e-sports being placed in the same league as cricket, football, basketball, etc. and having similar fan power, scale and craze,” he added.
Rohit Agarwal, Founder & Director, Alpha Zegus, said, “One small step by the government, one giant leap for our industry. It’s an absolute delight to see this news come in just when the new year is around the corner. Government recognising e-sports as a multisport event will open a lot of doors for our space – whether it is more investors showing interest, bigger scale events, or even more support by family to take up esports as a career. We might also start seeing more international interest from both publishers and brands. This is the beginning of a new chapter for the industry.”
Rohit Jagasia, Founder & CEO, Revenant Esports, said that the collective efforts of the entire gaming fraternity along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports have finally reaped its rewards.
“Today can be said to be the greatest day in Indian e-sports history. We can now proudly consider e-sports a legitimate sport in India. This revolutionary decision will not only transform the country’s gaming landscape in terms of improved infrastructure, funding, exposure and providing education about the sector but will also put India on the global e-sports map as a force to be reckoned with. The year 2023 is undoubtedly going to be the start of the country’s golden era in e-sports and with the Asian Games as well as the Olympic Esports Week also set to take place soon, there is a lot of success expected to be in store for the entire community,” he said.
“The entire e-sports fraternity in India will be rejoicing with this welcome news which has certainly been a result of the gaming community’s collective efforts spanning the last few years,” noted Animesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, 8bit Creatives & an ex-e-sports athlete.
“E-sports have already been considered as a medal sport in the Olympics and Asian Games and this news will further boost the sport in the country as it was long overdue,” he added.
