Here's how e-sports will boom in the next few years.
E-Sports, as an industry has been neglected for years especially in countries like India. But with more people watching live streams on Twitch and YouTube and PC brands marching towards various competitions, competitive e-sports has started to pick up. In India, various games like PUBG Mobile, Valorant, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and more are being played on the e-sports level.
The E-Sports industry has been hugely male dominating. This is where Gigabyte saw an opportunity and announced the Aorus Showstopper series, where they encouraged girls to come forward for Valorant tournaments. IndiaTVNews.com reached out to some of these players in search of the answers to some really interesting questions.
How do you think the e-sports industry will do in the next five years?
The E-Sports industry has been growing really fast and with more millennials interested in the professional gaming scene, we believe that e-sports will skyrocket going forward. Aartika ‘Ni9Tails’ Saini believes that the future looks bright for the esports industry. She says, “I mean the industry has seen so much growth in recent times, with the kind of viewership and revenue being generated. With the world fighting a pandemic, more and more people are confined to their homes in search of entertainment and content to consume and people are turning to gaming and esports in general. I'm not one to talk numbers, but if I'm not mistaken, the esports market grew by 15% in the last year, which is nothing short of extraordinary, with many estimating the market to reach 1.6 billion by 2023.”
Further giving us some clarity, Sonali Singh, who goes with the gamer tag “Play Like Incognito” says, “After NFL, e-sports has the most amount of viewership and audience engagement. This clearly indicates how far e-sports has come over the past few years. With increasing revenue and the number of investors, I would not be surprised if esports beats any other physical sport.”
What is the scope of e-sports in India?
While E-Sports has been booming globally, the growth has been relatively slower in India especially considering we have a population of over 1.3 billion. Pooja Bisht says, “Esports as an industry has unlimited scope in India. I have seen people at a very young age started joining e-sports and some are working hard to become a part of e-sports in India. Gamers today are making a career out of streaming, and competing in eSports.
She further adds, “Esports has managed to take over the market in India mainly because of the growth and promotion done on online streaming platform such as Youtube and Twitch. There are many games that are famous in e-sports in India, Dota 2 is one of the first esport that comes to mind while talking about India's most popular esports games. Counter-Strike remains the most popular and most played esports in India. Esports has a huge potential in the Indian market because of the high youth population. Also as we can see brands like AORUS are promoting esports by organizing tournaments in which more than 100 teams are participating which I believe is a great initiative to take the e-sports as a career option as well.”
What gaming rigs do you use?
Most people who are into gaming are usually interested to know which Gaming PCs do the e-sports players use. So we asked Ni9Tails what rig she uses. She claims she built a custom PC based on the Intel i7-10700K. She has paired it with a Z490 motherboard, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and GIGABYTE RTX 2060 SUPER graphics card. For storage, she uses a 500GB NVME M.2 SSD. Lastly, she has a Lian Li Galahad 240 liquid cooler, a 650W power supply and an Ant Esports Mid Tower case to fit all of this in.
Why do you prefer using a Gigabyte monitor?
One thing that we noticed with these players was that they preferred using Gigabyte monitors. We got curious about the reason behind this. When asked, Aartika Saini said, “It was an easy decision because Gigabyte offers some very good monitors with IPS screens that have faster refresh rates, great image quality, and viewing angles. The monitor is ideal for gaming as well as video editing. They also have excellent value for money options.”
As a girl, how difficult is it to be a part of the e-sports scene?
One of the major questions that were running in my mind was how difficult is it for girls to be a part of the e-sports scene. Sonali Singh commented on this by saying, “Although esports is a competition for everyone, there is still some work that needs to be done in gender diversity. The majority of organizations give girl gamers and streamers an equal amount of opportunity but they need to focus on changing the mindset of their audience by rightly representing their female gamers.”
How do you tackle bullying?
One of the major problems that players are facing these days is cyberbullying. But players have tackled it anyways and made their way up the ladder. Ni9Tails says, “I try to ignore bullies as much as possible and not let them bother me in any way. As soon as I notice someone is going to be toxic, I mute them in-game because they'll end up affecting my mood and, as a result, my performance, which is not ideal in gaming. And talking back is never an option, makes things more ugly as these trolls, these keyboard warriors, don't listen, they are there just to troll others and to spread negativity, it's their idea of having fun.”
So if you come across people like them, it is probably best to block their communication as soon as possible.
Should more Showstopper like series take place?
The Showstopper series by Aorus has given to many streamers to rise and shine. They picked up various streamers and made them compete against each other to find the best of the best in India. Commenting on this, Pooja Bisht, said, “It is a great initiative by AORUS. Series like Showstopper is not only giving platform to play with or against talented people but also giving chance to showcase your hidden talent to everyone. The series has motivated so many girls who want to pursue gaming as their career. Showstopper Women's League was a medium to show the audience that gaming skill doesn't come with gender, it comes with practice and hardwork. It gives you chance to play against high-level players. Also series like this gives great confidence booster to upcoming girls to go pro in fps games. Moreover this series was beneficial for me as I was able to connect with more girls in the community, we learnt and helped each other to improve our skills and that's how we grabbed 3rd place.”
