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esports
eSports 2.0 - How India recovered after a knockout
How did Indian eSports bounce back following its biggest disaster? It was a long road to redemption.
On the tenth of April, 2012, the India Gaming Carnival took place. It was an odd spectacle organized by WTF Eventz with no sponsors and a seemingly impossible prize pool of $300,000. That’s not including the projected 300,000 attendees (which included some 20,000 “gamers”), “celebrity visits”, prizes for cosplayers and exhibit space for “over 200 brands.”
The tournament attracted two international teams, including Counter-Strike 1.6 team Moscow Five. It became quickly apparent, however, that the event was badly organized. Enormous delays, lack of proper facilities (the venue’s power was cut at one point) and absconding organizers quickly led to the IGC becoming a joke, both locally and internationally, for all gamers. That’s not even getting into how Moscow Five was effectively robbed in their own hotel.
A scene from India Gaming Carnival
© Moscow Five
It was an especially big black eye for India but to truly appreciate why, you need to look at how far eSports has come in recent years. There was a time when sports were solely physical competitions such as cricket, basketball, badminton and tennis. Over time, games like chess were considered sports, given the strategy and the thinking necessary to compete. Video games have been stigmatized by society because of their alleged negative effects on children and health. This isn’t taking into account industry practices like frequent technical crunches, deadlines, post-launch problems and so on. However, everyone would agree that video games were meant to be entertaining.
Video games as a sport with athletes, tournaments and actual prize pools was considered a pipe dream. However, games like id Software’s Quake gave a boost to fledgling gamers, by allowing them to put their fragging skills to the test for real money. Blizzard’s Starcraft took Korea by storm, quickly establishing itself as the go-to game for competition. Over time, games like Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: GO and DOTA 2 set the bar for eSports worldwide, both in terms of cash prizes and competition.
The history of eSports in India is much less cut and dry. AFK Gaming, co-founder and popular DOTA 2 caster, Nishant 'CloudX' Patel, considered the best play-by-play Indian commentator for the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), believes 2012 was the “major pivot point” for eSports in India. “That’s when the shift took place from DOTA to DOTA2 and CS 1.6 to CS: GO. A lot of essential Indian eSports intermediaries started cropping up around then. NODWIN Gaming brought premium tournaments to the forefront. AFK Gaming shone a spotlight on deserving teams, players and tournaments," explains Nishant.
“This prompted pro teams such as Oblique Gaming to come into existence. Infrastructure issues were resolved via premium cafes such as LXG and in general, Internet connectivity kept improving. Back when I used to game, an option to ‘reconnect’ to a DOTA match was non-existent! Today’s competitive gamers will never know the pain of having to pause and save an online match every time you scored a team-wipe or took an important objective," he adds.
When Valve announced a million dollar tournament for DOTA 2, Nishant realized that eSports was more than just a passing fad. Back in 2012, Nishant was right in the middle of it all as a pro-gamer. The lack of opportunities and exposure cut this phase short.
Even current pro players agree that the situation was far from ideal. Professional DOTA 2 player Raunak 'Crowley' Sen noted that poor Internet connectivity, social stigma and lack of proper infrastructure further hampered the growth of eSports in India. Prize pools and salaries for players were non-existent. The fact that society viewed such competitions as little more than gambling also didn’t help.
Raunak 'Crowley' Sen
© NODWIN Gaming
While many of us could look back on the India Gaming Carnival as a simple speed bump in the road for Indian eSports, it meant a lot more to players at the time. Sid recalled playing semi-professionally in the UK when IGC was announced and it was a proud moment for him personally.
Sid 'Boogie' Joshi (far left)
© NODWIN Gaming
“Before I went to the UK, I didn’t know what gaming or eSports was. I didn’t even know if India had an ecosystem, especially because I moved to the UK when I was 18. When I read that Moscow Five was traveling to India, it was a big proud moment for me. I was even willing to fly down and attend the event. Then the whole failure thing happened.”
It was interesting to see how it all played out eventually. Right from the start, WTF Eventz never addressed its lack of sponsors. Even when questioned on social media, it remained dodgy about the whole thing and believed eSports fans should be thanking them. Eventually, the company stopped allowing user posts on the page and began issuing bans at the slightest hint of criticism.
Finally, the first day of the event arrived, but the India Gaming Carnival never happened – it was cancelled on short notice. Equipment and facilities were hardly up to par. Management was either shoddy or nowhere to be seen. Research conducted by pro team Fnatic at the time revealed no background on the organizers and a total capital of Rs. 1,00,000. Unsurprisingly, the prize money for participating teams was nowhere to be seen. An event which was supposed to lift the country out of the abyss, only resulted in inciting trolls and stigmatization of Indian eSports in the international community. Thus, the India Gaming Carnival pushed back India several years behind in terms of competitive gaming, but all was not lost.
AFK Gaming co-founder and popular DOTA 2 caster Nishant 'CloudX' Patel believed IGC was “a bittersweet moment” in the history of Indian eSports. “The event was garbage, no doubt. However, the sentiment among many back then was that this won’t just fix itself – we have to do something to right this wrong and ensure that it doesn’t happen again. It’s what prompted many community members to step into a business suit and establish some of today’s most loved eSports companies. Sponsors and investors from within and abroad were extremely wary of investing in anything to do with Indian eSports for a long time after. The primary downside to this was that it took a lot longer and a bit more bootstrapping for Indian eSports entrepreneurs to build credibility.”
Nishant ‘Cloudx’ Patel
© NODWIN Gaming
All that time and effort ultimately paid off. While discussing the real turning point for Indian eSports, Sid recalled when Team Wolf traveled to Germany for ESL Cologne in 2014. “It was a direct slot to the majors from India and even though it was cancelled and became more difficult, that was when I think people noticed India as well on the international map. Before that, it was all about the local scene or competing somewhere in Malaysia.”
“ESL Cologne changed a lot – all the biggest organizations in India don’t really care what happens locally. They only aim for the international scene just so that they could take it further. Obstacle-wise, one of the big issues was peer pressure. Kids couldn’t really go to their parents and tell them they want to become gamers with no background in gaming. Obviously, parents would say no, but if handled correctly, it wouldn’t be too much of an obstacle.”
While such cultural issues are still being overcome, Nishant believes that homegrown teams are yet to perform well in the international scene. On the other hand, Indian tournaments still need to incentivize teams abroad to compete here.
“That said, we have recovered phenomenally well on the back of earnest folks pouring in sweat and blood to keep the wheels turning despite the IGC fiasco.” Teams like Oblique Gaming, Team Elunes, Team Brutality, Beyond Infinity, Invisible Wings, Entity Esports, Team Wolf and Dare2Dream were stated as some of the best to emerge for DOTA 2 and CS: GO in recent years.
It’s not like the India Gaming Carnival was the only real ticket for Indian eSports. The Indian Cyber Gaming Championship, Game Kshetra and Xtreme Gaming’s BYOC regularly organized tournaments with great success back then. Recently, big tournaments like the ESL India Premiership, Dew Arena, SuperNova and the Indian eSports Championship (IESC) took place last year. Interestingly, eSports also caught the fancy of the Indian government, as the recent India Gaming Show 2017 was organized successfully by the Confederation of Indian Industry with support from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. Pointing to his article on the state of Indian eSports, Nishant says, “2016 saw around Rs. 77 Lakhs paid out as prize money. I expect over Rs. 2 Cr to be paid out in 2017. Add to this the fact that eSports is going on television with a man like Ronnie Screwvala at the helm of UCypher. The addressable audience is only going to get larger this year and with that come a plethora of marketing, employment and investment opportunities for those interested in the industry.”
Ankit 'V3nom' Panth who plays Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as part of Team Brutality also pointed out to the influx of tournaments in 2016. “I would say that 2016 would be the beginning of CS:GO. Last year, I saw a lot of tournaments coming up with decent to big prize pools and brands like Dew Arena, ESL India and NODWIN Gaming. They’re taking it seriously. 2016 should be counted as the beginning of eSports in India. Previously it wasn’t that great.”
Ankit 'V3nom' Pant (far left)
© NODWIN Gaming
The CS:GO professional went on to elaborate his stance, “Globally, it’s something but in India, it was just starting. Before 2016, there used to be two to three tournaments that happened every year and the maximum that a winning team could get was Rs 1,00,000. They were also out of town, which presented challenges for Mumbai-based teams like us. Even if we won, a lot of that prize went into travelling. Compare this to Dew Arena and ESL India which had three lakhs in prize money. 2016 has seen the prize pools go up and 2017 is looking even better.” When asked about one of the bigger changes for players, Ankit said that players have moved from “plastic chairs to cushioned seats”.
About what needs to be done in order to propel Indian eSports to the next level, Nishant says, “In a nutshell, more non-endemic sponsors and personalities should target the Indian eSports audience. eSports attracts more attention from mainstream media if non-endemic investors jump in. Parents, businessmen and society in general that consumes mainstream media content will realize that eSports is not a waste of time or a children’s past time but a potential career avenue just like any other traditional sport. A changed mind-set towards eSports will lead to more investments which will help in improving the eSports infrastructure in India.”
“Many of the factors we have discussed have already been set in motion. I strongly believe that 2017 will be the year that ushers in the eSports era in the Indian entertainment industry,” adds Nishant.
India Gaming Show 2017 was extremely successful
© NODWIN Gaming
Despite eSports in India still being relatively small compared to other countries, it’s an exciting time for growth. If 2016 was a big year for pro players and enthusiasts, then 2017 will be even more exciting to look back on.
