Hyderabad poised to become e-sports capital of India soon

Even the Olympics too took note of the genre's potential, and there was the Olympic Virtual Series in the lead up to Tokyo 2020 Olympics. More importantly, e-sports will be a medal event at the 2022 Asian Games. Given the immense potential that is available due to 'Made in India' e-sports brands, and the abundance of affordable smartphones and data, this is one category ripe for India to make the most of

It is often said that sports is a great equalizer, however, people fail to note that while everyone is equal on the field in terms of rules, it is your training off it that defines your achievement as an athlete. Naturally then, athletes who do not come from economically well-to-do families have greater odds stacked against them, as they fight not just the opponent on the field, but also the system off it. India is no stranger to athletes beating all odds to come on top, however, the Covid-19 induced lockdown has widened the gap to success. Those with adequate funding or even family support have been able to access state-of-art infrastructure in India or abroad, while the majority has had to deal with insufficient training opportunities.

It is in this vein that I turned to mobile-based e-sports as an equalizer. The buzz around the industry is a plenty, and I cannot deny curiously reading up about it. With the second largest population of 1.3 billion people in the world, with a huge talent pool of players and enthusiastic spectators who have a passionate devotion towards their favourite sports, it is but natural that the country would also have one of the fastest growing e-sports industry. Even the Olympics too took note of the genre's potential, and there was the Olympic Virtual Series in the lead up to Tokyo 2020 Olympics. More importantly, e-sports will be a medal event at the 2022 Asian Games. Given the immense potential that is available due to 'Made in India' e-sports brands, and the abundance of affordable smartphones and data, this is one category ripe for India to make the most of.

It is in this spirit that I look at my home state, Telangana, as a hotbed for e-sports medalists. We have successfully tapped on the country's cyber potential, and are home to some of the biggest names in the tech sector. Therefore, there is all the reason for India's first official e-sports medal to be from Telangana.

While most of the world embraced e-sports fairly early, in India, e-sports phenomena is relatively nascent. E-sports took a while to catch on due to the absence of a cohesive policy and a prevailing mindset that competitive gaming is not a viable career option. This however is changing fast and today, India and Telangana in particular has tremendous potential to excel in e-sports. In addition to the wealth of digital talent in Telangana, a growing talent pool of e-sports players completes the ecosystem. Policy support, infrastructure, startup ecosystem and a rich talent pool are some of the advantages that the state has to offer. Telangana plays host to a plethora of state-of-the-art gaming cafes, these function as not only centers of entertainment but also platforms for gaming companies to showcase their products.

E-ports cafes have started diversifying into mobile gaming by offering facilities exclusive playing areas and high-speed internet connectivity in order to capture the growing competitive mobile gaming segment. Apart from Hyderabad's ability to attract talent from all over the country, there are many well-known educational institutes in the state which can be an easy and efficient source of fulfilment of the human capital requirements of the gaming companies.

Telangana is the technological hub of India. The e-sports industry is the most technologically driven sport the world has ever seen. It requires technology talent to sustain it and Telangana can provide gaming companies with the talent they need. The user profile of a gamer from Telangana is very similar to the user profile at the national level. This brings in efficiency in the development and distribution of skill-based games.

Gamers in Telangana should believe in the competitive potential of the sport. As for the Telangana government, which is shortly introducing new rules for online and fantasy gaming, in line with its continued forward-looking association with digital, it is not a stretch to see Hyderabad as the e-sports capital of India.

(The author is of President of Telugu E-sports Association)