Hyderabad: Considered to be one of the fastest growing ‘sport’ globally, eSports leagues are now mushrooming in India and a top official from Nazara Games, a leading domestic game developer and publisher, on Monday said that they are looking to help develop the electronic gaming ecosystem in India.
The Nazara Games-backed league, which is likely to be launched in mid-August, will be the second such league to be announced in as many months. In January, former UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala announced the launch of UCypher, which is to be played in May. He had earmarked Rs 100 crore for the league.
In comparison, Nazara Games through its subsidiary, Nazara Technologies, plans to invest around $20 million or Rs 136 crore over the next five years to help develop the esports ecosystem in the country.
“According to a report, the eSports market is worth $748 million in 2016 and the global eSports market will reach $1.2 billion in 2018. But the esports ecosystem in India is still in its early stages presents a huge opportunities thus our attempt to create an ecosystem that helps Indian develop their skill to compete at a global level.” Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Games, told this correspondent.
According to a Deloitte report, eSports will generate global revenues of $500 million in 2016, up 25 per cent from about $400 million in 2015. “It will likely to have an audience of regular and occasional viewers of close to 150 million people,” the report said.
The report added: “Revenues for eSports are predicted to grow 25 percent in 2016, which is better than most mature sports, but not especially impressive for a new entertainment market.”
“However, some believe eSports is approaching an upward inflection point. One American analyst predicts that eSports in the US alone will leap from $85 million in 2014 to $1.2 billion in 2018: a 94 per cent compounded growth rate, which is triple the projected 2016 growth over 2015,” it added.
The craze, mainly in Europe, the US, South Korea and China, for eSports provides the organisers with “an advertising goldmine”, according to the Deloitte report.
The organisers also have another scope for earning revenue as eSports fans are more likely to make in-game purchases, buy more apparel and buy more branded peripherals than other gamers.
