The esports industry in India has had the most welcome news, just in time for the new year. After industry stakeholders tirelessly worked towards establishing the difference between esports and iGaming, finally, their efforts seem to have borne fruits. The Indian government has officially recognised esports in the country, and it will now be a part of the “multisports event” category in India under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and sports.

This cleared the air that esports must not be clubbed under the umbrella term "Gaming". Esports (Electronic sports) is a competitive sport where esports athletes use their physical and mental abilities to compete in certain genres of video games in a virtual, electronic environment.

Brands and advertisers will also have a much easier time getting into the system, something which had already been happening, though perhaps not as rapidly as it could have been, given the ambiguity between esports and gaming, with the latter often being pegged by state authorities as “undesirable.”

Rohit Jagasia, Founder & CEO, Revenant Esports indeed says this can be said to be the greatest day in Indian esports history, adding, “The year 2023 is undoubtedly going to be the start of the country's golden era in esports and with the Asian Games as well as the Olympic Esports Week also set to take place soon, there is a lot of success expected to be in store for the entire community.”

Animesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, 8bit Creatives and a former esports athlete, adds, “It presents a clean slate for gamers and proves to naysayers that esports is, in fact, a serious sport that deserves to be recognised for its skilled and hard-working players who will be competing against some of the world's best players and put India on the map of professional gaming countries. At 8Bit Creatives & S8UL, this is a defining moment for us. The future of Indian esports holds great things from our side.”

"While this is a great first step by the Indian government, it’s important to take cognizance of the nuances that could emerge from this statement. The insertion of 'e-Sports as part of multi-sports events' needs to be closely examined so as not to exclude popular esport titles that are not directly linked to a traditional sport. Games like Valorant, Dota 2 and those created by Indian game developers should also have the opportunity to be classified as esports, and their players as athletes," said Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director NODWIN Gaming.