In the case of eSports, it’s fair to say that India is one of the industry’s global rising stars. Possessing one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, the digital sport has a huge domestic audience, with its popularity even beginning to rival more traditional forms of entertainment, such as music and movies.
This trend is driven by a number of diverse factors, but foremost among them are rapidly developing advancements in technology. With high-speed internet connections, increased smartphone usage, and more widespread access to hardware all having a part to play, we look at how these different types of tech are helping to create the perfect conditions for a thriving eSports industry.
Access to high-speed internet connections
If there’s one factor that has been imperative in driving this growth, it is more widespread access to high-speed internet. No matter whether an individual is playing or watching, a quick and reliable connection is arguably essential to enjoying a positive eSports experience.
Pre-2016, only a handful of people within the country had access to this, with most unable to afford such simple luxuries. Fortunately, this all changed when the telecom’s industry underwent a serious and dramatic overhaul, which helped to not only make data faster but more affordable to the masses too.
As a result, India now boasts some of the most affordable data plans in existence, which has helped to stimulate a huge increase in digital consumption. It also has the second-largest internet population, with nearly half a billion of its citizens having access to the world wide web.
This has not only helped to create a larger gaming community but a much-increased eSports audience, resulting in the creation of more tournaments and bigger prize pools. The sport has become so popular because of this that it is broadcast in three different languages and shown countrywide.
Increased smartphone usage
Improved internet access is not the only factor that has had a part to play. So too has the burgeoning smartphone market, which has been bolstered by the creation of budget options like the Vivo U10. Of the country’s internet traffic, three quarters now comes from mobile users – a huge figure when you consider the sheer size of India’s online population.
As a result, developers have responded by creating and retailing ever more powerful devices, which are able to offer a much more enhanced gaming experience. This has helped titles such as Free Fire and Call of Duty Mobile to flourish, as they can be played and enjoyed by almost anyone.
This easy accessibility has also fostered a world of new opportunities for ordinary gamers, with a significant number having become household names (Mortal, Carry Minati, and Scout are just three examples among many).
Due to the massive following these individuals have attracted, global eSports brands have been encouraged to invest in the country’s industry, while also noting a significant spike in interest from audiences around the world.
This trend for increasingly affordable hardware is not only seen in relation to smartphones. Gaming laptops and notebooks have also become much more accessible to ordinary consumers, due to two primary factors: a countrywide spike in wages and the resultant rise in standards of living; and a decrease in pricing re gaming hardware.
This has allowed many more young people to purchase entry-level devices, enhancing their ability to participate, and driving their interest in eSports.
A growth in gaming and entertainment more widely
Understandably, eSports is not the only industry to have benefitted from these changes; gaming and entertainment more widely have seen similar spikes in interest. Online casino is a prime example, and its increased focus on mobile compatibility has perfectly complemented this rise in smartphone usage.
For example, many of the providers featured on directory sites help to evidence this trend, placing a notable emphasis on the quality and breadth of their mobile offerings, as well as their more technologically advanced products, including, for example, live casino.
The same sort of pattern is seen in the app industry too, with India recently having emerged as the fastest growing market in the world, with 19 billion apps downloaded in 2019 alone (up from 6.55 billion three years previously).
With technology only continuing its rapid onward march, the one question remaining is this: how long will it be before India’s eSports sector is the biggest of them all?
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