Nazara Games has announced that it will invest 136 crores to develop eSports gaming league in India. The Mumbai-based developer is planning to scale up the electronic sports in the country over five years.
For the uninitiated, eSports leagues are basically large-scale video game tournaments which are fairly popular in countries like the US, Europe, China and more. Under this league, different professional teams across the globe compete to win cash prices and title. Nazara Games will initially start with two leagues which include PC-based games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2.
“Esports has become a cultural phenomenon in the last few years. Countries in Europe, Korea, China and US have seen massive growth in the number of players and spectators. Asia-Pacific accounts for 44 percent of the audience and is the fastest growing region globally. Given, improving internet connectivity in India today, launching an eSports league seemed the perfect way to reach out to the large group of esports enthusiasts in India,” said, Nitish Mittersain, founder and managing director of Nazara Games, in a statement.
The league will have two seasons per year and will feature six teams that would be selected through qualifiers. Usually, these leagues come with various sponsorships and this is where the company is currently targeting. Manish Agarwal, CEO of Nazara Games said the league “will work around three major pillars; an online content platform dedicated to the eSports community; a professional league; and a network of pro-teams entirely supported by the company. The league will provide Indian eSports fans with live WebTV content, guides, forums, online tournaments and of course, extensive and professional coverage of the eSports scene.”
In a country like India, where gaming is not considered to be a serious thing, it would be interesting to see whether the company will be able to establish a new standard across the gaming domain in India.