Covid19 has hit the businesses hard all over but one sector which has got benefited is that is online gaming. Especially in India, Esports as a sector is seeing unprecedented growth. InsideSport caught up with Shiva Nandy, CEO, Skyesports one of India’s leading esports company. According to Nandy, they are seeing almost 10X growth in the last 6 months due to Covid19 Impact. Nandy also spoke about impact of PUBG ban in India and is of a view that in fact ban of the game is benefiting other games come up the ladder.
Check the excerpts of the Interview.
Q. Skyesports is making heads turn, with its reach. What is your secret to being able to reach lakhs of people?
A:We make unique IPs and work for the growth of the gaming community. Our success is in reaching out to wider audiences and making our tournaments reach nook and corner. Our strength lies in grass root level reach, regional & localization of content.
Q. Esports in India are treated as entertainment, taxed as such too. Do you think esports should be treated as a sport and be given quota too?
A:Any game title which is skill-based and competitive should be under the esports category and yes, they should definitely be given a quota.
Q. What do you see is the Impact of PUBG Mobile BAN?
A: From the organization POV, there is surely a drop in viewership. But on the positive side, there are other games coming to the limelight that they need. Publishers are pushing their games more and are investing more time and effort. Other gamers are evolving and the grass-root level has already started. Indian audiences are trying a variety of games nowadays. Influencers are moving away from pubgm and looking at the larger picture. All the gaming platforms are getting more and more recognized.
Q. Did Covid-19 really help esports in India as much as people say? Or were you expecting this kind of growth already?
Definitely, agree. Covid19 impact has amplified the gaming scene across the world. Our Viewership and user base increased 10x and we are seeing a 20x growth rate in terms of revenues for this year alone. We have created more IPs and all of this was due to covid situation.
Q. Coming from a game development background, do you think India can launch a global esports title?
A:It all depends on the infrastructure, developers & game designers we have here and the way investors support the development process. India is a powerhouse and I would personally like to see a global esports title from India soon. We already have titles like WCC Rivals which is a competitive esports title that is 100% made in India.
Q. Which region do you see a majority of your participation from? Do you have any plans for South India in specific?
A:When we started off, we saw South Indian teams the most in our tournament but after our back-to-back successful tournaments, we are seeing an equal amount of participation from PAN India. But not to be surprised, tier 2 and tier 3 cities are growing extremely big and fast. When it comes to viewership, As you know in South India, there are many players here and Tamil is a big language in terms of viewership after Hindi.
Q. Has Skyesports thought of expanding into South Asia? Where in specific?
A:In India, esports are explored by only less than 10%. There is more to explore in India before we think about stepping foot in the South Asia region. We want to grass-root in India at the largest level before thinking of other regions and we are focusing the most to conquer India. We want to take esports to nook and corner.
Q. How does Skyesports chose a game to run a tournament on?
A:It all depends on the Competitive nature of the game and the popularity among the gamers. Additionally, it also depends on publisher support to be hosted in a tournament. It’s a mix of all the factors.
Q. Indian Gaming/esports community feels like it lacks a representative, have you thought of maybe trying to fulfill that role? Do you feel it’s important for a single representation?
A:At the speed at which Indian esports is growing, we should definitely have a representation. All the orgs who are leading the Indian esports should come together to build a strong team and it should happen very soon.
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