Surge in Mobile Gaming
What began as a simple gaming experience on a household level with games like Candy Crush and Farmville has now grown into a massive business worth billions of dollars. Although there is a subset of gamers who still choose for and favour console and PC gaming, the former has emerged as a formidable competitor to the latter two platforms in recent years. Mobile gaming was calculated to be 46% in 2020, taking a lead from the PC (23%) and Console gaming (31%). It can well surpass its counterparts with the increase in mobile sales with every consequent year. In addition to that, the launch of 5G in India will serve as a further catalyst to accelerate the country’s economic development.
In India, some people may not have access to personal computers, yet almost every household has at least one cell phone. As a result, this makes it possible for developers, businesspeople, and other stakeholders to evaluate this undeveloped area and bring forward initiatives that have the potential to generate large amounts of income. The majority of the game development community is concentrating their efforts on providing all of the user’s services on a single, compact screen and making it as easy as possible for them to use. It is only going to continue to grow, which will have significant and positive implications for the future of esports.
Role of 5G in esport development
Countries like the United States and Europe have already implemented ubiquitous 5G connection, while others, like India, are on the cusp of doing so. This will be beneficial to the growth of esports and provide new opportunities for the gaming industry as a whole. The same was reiterated by Mr. Anku Jain, MD, Mediatek India at India Gaming Conclave 2022.
5G is ten times as quick as its predecessor. The higher speed and reduced latency of 5G-enabled phones also benefit the health of the battery over time. Increased speed will also provide smoother game streaming and much less lag time. In multi-player games, this is going to be a huge help. These features are promising that 5G will benefit the esports sector as a whole.
India in Global Esport Tournaments
It wasn’t the first for India to participate in esport events at Commonwealth Esports Championships or the soon-to-happen Asian Games 2022. India also participated in the esport event that was held in Jakarta in 2008, bringing along a bronze medal home. India is also to be participating in many continental tournaments such as Dota 2, FIFA 22, and Street Fighter V. Recently, an Indian gamer was qualified to represent India in SIM Racing World Cup Final, Monaco.
In addition to this, there is a sizeable population of streamers who are raking in a good amount of money by playing and broadcasting video games, forming partnerships, and receiving sponsorships. All of this has come into being in India over the space of only ten years. The Covid-19 outbreak served as the necessary impetus for people to start paying attention to esports, which had previously received just a little boost. Many people in India between the age of 15 and 35 are choosing to make a profession out of esports.
Indigenous Game Developers
As everything seem better and more attractive when it’s closer to home, gaming industry isn’t far away from this concept. Across the world, game developers design video games to draw attention and increase curiosity amongst the youth on the basis of culture, trends, and specific demography. In the Indian context too, a growing trend has emerged where developers are starting to create and design games around our own rich history, heritage and culture.
Recently released games pertaining to this trend are Asura, Raji, Missing and Indus. This may account to be a smart move from the gaming sector for it will draw attention of the Indian government towards the esports industry. However, such ideas can be materialized into action with a solid base of infrastructure including game development studio. This is not the case in India so far. We can safely say that India is still in the nascent stage when it comes to establishing professional infrastructure for a better game development environment. Having said that, there is huge potential and the upcoming tournaments in esports and alike activities are playing catalyst to bring a positive change.
Impact of Esport Trends
The Indian gaming industry or the Asian industry, if we cover from a larger perspective is also being impacted from the emerging trends from across the world. This has been reiterated in the report issued by Niko Partners. According to the report, trends like the metaverse, web 3, cloud gaming, extended reality, and virtual influencers are reshaping the way people experience gaming.
In addition to metaverse games being the next big thing, Web 3 changes how games are developed, networked, released, and monetized. With the introduction of 5G in India, and better infrastructure, cloud games will see a bright future in India. Also, virtual influencers are playing a big role in increasing popularity and revenue in Asia. Japan leads in this league right now, but with the right motivation, India may also turn out to be one of the forerunners in the coming decades.
Overall, if we talk about the future of gaming in India, it looks promising and stores in a lot of opportunities for the youth of the country. Already, there are a lot of teams being qualified for world championships and winning big medals. The days are not far where we will host world esport championships on indigenous grounds as well. Till then, keep gaming the iLL way!
