States Push To Catalyse Growth Of E-Sports And Gaming Ventures – Economic Times

New Delhi: The best times for e-sports, online gaming and e-gaming startups might finally be here. The four newly-elected BJP governments including those in UP, Manipur, Goa and Utrakhand are giving a push to gaming ventures. This comes close on the heels of the Karnataka High Court striking down a state government law that banned online gaming.

According to a recent report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in collaboration with OnePlus and RedSeer, the Indian gaming market is poised to reach $6-7 billion in value by 2025 from $1.8 billion at present. The push by the state governments will act as a catalyst for the growth and development of the nascent sector.

Sai Srinivas cofounder & CEO, Mobile Premier League (MPL) said, “in various states across India we continue to expand our footprint and now India is also at a global tipping point in the key global markets.” MPL recently acquired Berlin-based games studio GameDuell.

MPL has been focused on exploring multiple segments to offer gaming and eSports experiences to users. The deal will allow the GameDuell team to bring their experience in building multiplayer games like board, action arcade and puzzle games, to both an Indian and global audience across web, social and mobile platforms.

The IAMAI report titled ‘Building up the e-gaming ecosystem of India and the influence of smartphones’, the report also highlighted that 40% of the hardcore gamers pay for their games with an average spend of Rs 230 per month.

India has more than 200 million e-gamers playing across more than 200 platforms. The recent Karnataka High Court judgment lifting the ban on gaming in the state follows other positive judgements given by High Court’s of states such as Punjab & Haryana, Rajasthan, Bombay that recognised Fantasy Sports as games of skill and a legitimate business activity protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. Now the states where elections concluded recently want to push gaming and this will boost innovation and startup activity besides attracting more players into the virtual gaming domains. Interestingly, the Asian Games 2022 to be held in Hangzhou in China also includes e-sports as medal games.

PK Mishra, president of All India Gaming Federation said, “e-sports and e-gaming, under the umbrella of digital economy growth, are going to play an important role in the Indian economy. To encourage this, the e-gaming industry needs robust policy frameworks and digital infrastructure to foray towards being a global leader.”

Roland Landers CEO, All India Gaming Federation pointed out that the proposed Animation, Visual effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) taskforce (AVGC) will help in building a robust policy framework that will further support innovation and growth in sectors including e-gaming and metaverse.

In recent years gaming has been caught in a web with some states seeing them as games of chance and not skill. Now with more clarity, a boost from several states and a renewed focus on e-gaming, things definitely look far better on multiple fronts — promoting e-gaming, e-sports, creating jobs, boosting startups and accelerating innovation.

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