Transition of esports and gaming into new frontiers for youth entertainment

The gaming industry has rapidly evolved from mere entertainment into a powerful cultural and economic force, influencing the digital landscape in profound ways. As gaming continues to shape our society, economy, and culture, it has become crucial to understand its growing significance.

In the run-up to GAMEXX Summit and Awards 2024, Adgully’s marquee event for the gaming and e-sports industry, which will be held in Mumbai on November 6, a special trilogue was held yesterday on ‘Esports & Gaming: How it Becomes a New Frontier for Youth Entertainment’. The session was chaired by Nishant Patel, CEO and Co-Founder, AFK Gaming, and the panelists included Vishal Parekh, Chief Operating Officer, CyberPowerPC India, and Jigar Sheth, Chief Revenue Officer, NODWIN Gaming.

Commencing the discussion, Nishant Patel remarked, “Esports is no longer a niche hobby. It’s a global phenomenon with millions of fans and players. We’ve seen esports growing exponentially over the last decade with events like the international championships and the League of Legends World championship, the viewership of which is actually rivaling traditional sports.” He further extended a question to the panel: what do you think is the reason that has fueled this rapid rise and how do live streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube gaming contribute to this?

Speaking on growth and esports adaptation into global events like the Asian Games and the Olympics, Jigar Sheth noted, “We’ve seen an exponential growth of esports over the years, and recently there was an Esports World Cup that was huge, which happened in Riyadh. We are seeing a lot of globalization happening with esports, but I do feel that we are still scratching the surface with esports. If you compare esports to traditional sports like football or cricket, all of those have been played for 150 years, and the evolution of 150 years is what has gotten them. Compared to that, esports has probably been maybe 30 years. It is only in the last ten years that we have seen esports being taken seriously.”

Speaking about the contribution of streaming platforms, he said, “I do feel that online platforms have a great say in how this is going to become even bigger. Esports has an opposite sort of effect of traditional sports. Traditional sports, primarily seen on television, is now transitioning into streaming platforms like Hotstar or Jio. Esports has always been online. If we are going to make it and compare esports to traditional sports, traditional sports is very social. While YouTube gaming, Twitch, all of these are very important, I do feel, especially in a country like India where people still watch a lot of content on television, that is also a big platform that needs to be explored. We have seen esports now coming to television because of BGMS over the last three years, and hopefully it will continue for long.”

Speaking about the viewership, Vishal Parekh emphasized, “I always believe that for any sport, be it traditional or esport, the viewership is equal to spectators for any sport. The minute you have more spectators, the sport gets more popular. And I think that’s what has happened with esports in the last few years. Earlier in India, the viewership was all about international tournaments, international stars, and international teams, and come pre-Covid, we saw footfalls in large numbers at the ESL, which took place in India. It’s a journey that has already started over the past few years.”

He further added, “We see a lot of young generation who were not exposed to these platforms, be it OTT or YouTube or Twitch or any other streaming platform, which happened in the last few years. I think the spectators have gone higher, the viewership has gone very, very high, and when that happens, the popularity automatically comes in for any sport. It’s a cycle which is in motion right now. And the speed is there. It’s just going to go higher and higher.”

Speaking on the battle of online and offline, he added, “Online is going to go up in terms of eyeball. Live events do make a lot of impact. All those factors of socializing and cheering live at an event will come into play.”

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