How Esports is a real sport? Pandemic 2020 proved a significant year for Esports both in terms of increased engagement and its growing acceptance. With more time in hand being indoors, gaming became a viable option for entertainment. This amazing growth introduced competitive gaming to an entirely new breed of highly engaged audiences. Player participation in competitive gaming along with viewership for Esports events saw a significant spike.
As per statistics, Indian Esports accounted for around 4% of all online gaming users and 9.13% of aggregate revenue in FY20. In 2020, Esports viewership increased to 17 million and is projected to reach 85 million by 2025. India’s esports industry is set to quadruple in size to Rs 1,100 crore by 2025 from Rs 250 crore at present—clocking a compounded annual growth rate of 46%, according to an EY report.
Tarun Gupta, Founder, Ultimate Battle, which is India’s first-ever one-stop online esports platform, explained why Esports should not be clubbed in with iGaming, Fantasy, or other gaming categories.
How Esports is a real sport, and must not be clubbed with iGaming, Fantasy, or other gaming categories
Online Games are primarily divided into the following categories based on how the game is designed, the way the games are played, and the amount of skill required to play these games:
- Card-based Games (ex. Poker, Rummy)
- Casual Games (ex. Pool, Bubble shooting)
- Fantasy Games (ex. Fantasy Cricket, Fantasy Football)
- Esports (ex. DOTA 2, BGMI, VALORANT)
In India, people confuse esports with fantasy, rummy, or other casual games. There is no reason to associate these games with Esports. Esports is the organized form of video game competitions online and/or offline including video game genres of traditional sports, multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), real-time strategy (RTS), and fighting & first-person shooter (FPS) games.
Esports is a Real Sport, Here is Why: When you think of sports, count the things that quickly come into your mind? It surely would be fierce competition, physical activity, fans, practice, and adrenaline rush, etc. Moreover, we think of an Esports player sitting at a desk and staring at a screen all the time. Recently the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced that eight games including FIFA, PUBG, and Dota 2 will be a part of the Asian Games 2022. To recall, Esports was a demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta.
How Esports is a real sport, and must not be clubbed with iGaming, Fantasy, or other gaming categories
Let’s look into the similarities to traditional sports and find out why these similarities match up and make Esports a real sport all the way. esports in asian games
- Game Mechanics
Game mechanics are the rules and set of methods that guide the gamer’s actions and interactions between the player and the game. Esports players have to master the game’s mechanics and concentrate on learning and improving game-specific skills. These game mechanics help to make gaming an engaging and fun-filled experience.
- Learning Curve of the Game
Like traditional sports, Esports has a steep learning curve that helps gamers become more proficient with the game and gain a deeper understanding of the game. To succeed in Esports, you’ll have to be the best in terms of game skills along with team coordination, opponent research, critical thinking, and multi-tasking.
- Physical prowess and Strategic Thinking
Dive deeper into Esports games and you will find both forms of sports have a lot in common. Throughout the game, Esport athletes are required to sustain high levels of attention to make important decisions under time pressure. An esports gamer practices and hones their skills for hours in order to perfect their movements on the keyboard and mouse while simultaneously coordinating with teammates. The Esports athletes achieve up to 400 movements on the keyboard and the mouse per minute, four times as much as the average person.
- Practice and Training is essential
In terms of practice and training, Professional esports and traditional sports athletes share several common characteristics. Like traditional athletes, Esports professionals exhibit a commitment to excellence, perseverance, and a passion for their sport. Esports athletes work hard to physically and mentally prepare themselves and practice for each competition that they are competing in.
Read More- Asian Games 2022 announces eSports medal events, includes PUBG
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