“Ye PUBG wala hai kya?” Prime Minister Modi quipped on a question in Pariksha Pe Charcha 2.0, while addressing the negative impact of online games on students in India.
More than 65% of the Indian population is below the age of 35 and there are around 700 Mn internet users. Indians downloaded around 5.6 Billion mobile gaming apps in 2019, the most in the world. This might imply that Indians are either challenging or ruling the world of gaming. Is this implication any close to reality? Are Indians any good at esports?
The online/digital gaming industry in India is growing at a CAGR of 22% and is expected to surpass USD 3.75 Billion by 2024. In fiscal year 2019, there were 300 million online gamers in India. This number was estimated to go up to 440 million gamers by fiscal year 2022. India’s online gaming industry has already attracted USD 350 million in investments from venture capital firms between 2014-2020. PUBG Mobile, India’s most popular online game, is the game’s biggest market too – 116 million downloads, which is 21% of 555 million PUBG Mobile players worldwide.
So, with so many online gamers in India, let us check India’s position in top-6 worldwide esports tournaments. (www.esportsearnings.com)
1. DOTA 2
Dota 2 is an action, real-time strategy game developed and published by Valve Corporation.
- Global Tournaments – 1405
- Tournament Money – USD 225,722,637.06
- Worldwide Participants – 3724
China, Finland, and the USA are the top 3 countries in terms of participation and winnings.
India stands 38th with USD 100,638.56 in winnings and 107 participants.
Top 3 winnings by Indians were
- Balaji Ramnarayan – USD 14,457.68
- Jeet Kundra – USD 13,479.18
- Moin Ijaz – USD 12,994.26
The winner: China, with USD 64,720,459.88 in winnings by 531 Players.
2. COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE (CS: GO)
CS:GO is a tactical first-person shooter developed by Valve Corporation and Hidden Path Entertainment.
- Global Tournaments – 5151
- Tournament Money – USD 99,953,448.58
- Worldwide Participants – 12967
Denmark, USA, and Sweden are the top 3 winning countries.
India stands 34th with USD 260,801.11 in winnings and 181 participants.
Top 3 winnings by Indians were
- Karan Mhawadkar – USD 16,053.06
- Love Paras – USD 15,251.27
- Tejas Sawant – USD 14,320.92
The winner: Denmark, with USD 14,971,515.93 in winnings by 465 Players.
3. Fortnite
Fortnite is a third-person online battle-royale action game launched as an early-access title, developed by Epic Games and People Can Fly.
- Global Tournaments – 569
- Tournament Money – USD 93,578,597.34
- Worldwide Participants – 3648
USA, France, and Canada are the top 3 winning countries.
India stands 73rd with USD 500.00 in winnings and 1 participant.
Only winning by an Indian was
- Samimax – USD 500.00
The winner: The USA, with USD 31,053,289.79 in winnings by 1719 Players.
4. League of Legends
League of Legends (LoL) is an action real-time strategy game developed and published by Riot Games.
- Global Tournaments – 2452
- Tournament Money – USD 76,860,863.25
- Worldwide Participants – 7019
Republic of Korea, China, and Taiwan are the top 3 winning countries.
India stands 85th with USD 1,804.60 in winnings and 5 participants.
Top 3 winnings by Indians were
- CrankO – USD 16,053.06
- Abhishek Sayan – USD 15,251.27
- Kirk Stephen – USD 14,320.92
The winner: Republic of Korea, with USD 26,244,108.98 in winnings by 694 Players.
5. StarCraft II
StarCraft II is a military science fiction real-time strategy game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
- Global Tournaments – 5885
- Tournament Money – USD 33,476,694.16
- Worldwide Participants – 2065
Republic of Korea, China, and the USA are the top 3 winning countries.
India stands 43rd with USD 10,206.70 in winnings and 1 participant.
Only winning by an Indian was
- Varun Immanuel – USD 10,206.70
The winner: Republic of Korea, with USD 20,480,485.72 in winnings by 633 Players.
6. PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG)
PUBG is a 100-player battle royale game developed and published by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean video game company Bluehole.
- Global Tournaments – 293
- Tournament Money – USD 23,383,378.57
- Worldwide Participants – 2754
Republic of Korea, China, and the USA are the top 3 winning countries.
India’s rank is not known in any tournaments.
The winner: Republic of Korea, with USD 6,136,456.62 in winnings by 352 Players.
Hmm… The numbers tell a completely different story. India is nowhere close in winnings or tournament participants in any professional capacity. When so many Indians are playing mobile games, why isn’t the quantity reflecting on the quality of the players? Maybe it is the inherent pull of STEM courses as a safe career choice or maybe it is a lack of knowledge of how big the actual esports arena is. It might just be that Indians play for leisure alone and have no aim of making it big there. Whatever the reason may be, if the youth is spending so much time on it, why not add to the ranks and scores rather than purely wasting the time and money.
India olympic ranking is 67thGold in 2016.