Lokesh Suji, Director of Esports Federation of India talks about the gaming industry in 2020

The year 2020 has been a significant letdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to that, we have learned how gaming can transform our life. Obviously, there’s nothing better than playing physically, but if you do not have time to place it, videos games are a perfect match.

eSports has grown in the country in leaps and bounds since the last few years, India now has a strong position in the world for eSports. In 2020, we saw a massive surge in eSports and the gaming industry as a whole. As we bid farewell to 2020, Lokesh Suji, Director of Esports Federation of India, has talked about the year that passed and what he expects 2021 to give us:

Esports & Gaming industry did in 2020:“We saw a boom in digital entertainment in India with the COVID-19 uncertainties and the lockdown in place in most of 2020, both esports & video gaming playing a key role. With the pandemic continuing and active sports hit mostly, the penetration of esports has only depended and efforts are being made to make it reach to more and more individuals across the country by various stakeholders in the esports community. However, despite all the challenges that the world has faced, the cumulative growth of the esports industry has been unprecedented and phenomenal.”

What are the expectations in 2021:

“Though the video games industry is recognized as an industry in India, we hope and look forward to esports being recognition in the same way soon. While esports is now going to be a medal event at the Asian Games 2022 as well as few other Asian Championship events, it is a must that esports needs to be recognized by the Ministry of Sports as a “Sport”. We mustn’t club it with Online Gaming, Fantasy, Teen Patti, Poker, Rummy and brand it as a source of betting or gambling. Esports is like any other sporting discipline sports where India has a chance to win medals and bring glory to the country. We need to recognise and regulate it as any other sport.

Am confident that these developments will also propel more brands to invest and associate with the Esports Eco-system and it is an opportune time for Indian Esports Industry to take a quantum leap economically as well as a new avenue in the sports genre.”