The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) is all set to roll out the 2021 edition of the much-awaited National Esports Championships (NESC) which is scheduled from 6 to 22 August.
Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the nationals will be held virtually with top athletes from across the country competing and showcasing their skills and strategies. Popular games DOTA2, Tekken7, PES 2020 will be part of the event alongside CS:GO.
The NESC 2021 will be played in a double elimination format with the last date of registrations being 19 August (PES2020 and Tekken7), 5 August (DOTA2) and the registrations dates for CS:GO will be announced soon.
The matches of popular esports titles PES 2020 and Tekken 7 will be played between 21 to 22 August while multiplayer online battle arena video game, DOTA2 is scheduled from 6 to 15 August.
“For the Indian Esports industry, this is our time in the sun. The increasing interest for esports in our country currently is encouraging us to push the envelope and give the athletes and the audience something new and exciting each time. We are extremely thrilled and excited to announce NESC 2021, it is a great opportunity for gamers to not only showcase their talent, strategies and skills in competitive gaming but also make the country proud. While Esports is now going to be a medal event at the 2022 Asian Games as well as few other Asian Championship events and expected to be included in Olympics in the near future, we are committed to develop, support and grow the Esports ecosystem in India,” said Esports Federation of India director and Asian Esports Federation (AESF) vice president Lokesh Suji.
The winners of the NESC 2021 will be selected to represent India at the 13th Esports World Championship by the International Esports Federation (IESF); these athletes will progress through the online Regional Qualifiers scheduled in Sep-Oct to the Global Finals which will take place in Eilat, Israel from 14 to19 November. The air travel expenses and accommodation of the athletes traveling to Eilat will be covered.
“As tournaments like these become bigger and grander, we are continuing to see a growing interest among the Indian youth to take up esports professionally. We’ve got some of the world’s most recognised competitive games in the tournament that is being mastered by highly skilled, motivated and talented virtual fighters. We can expect an edge-of-the-seat thriller in this season of NESC 2021. This is a very interesting time for esports in India and tournaments like this will fuel their ambition to become the powerhouse of esports. All the very best to the participants for this tournament!” said International Esports Federation secretary General Boban Totovski.
The championships will be streamed live on ESFI’s official YouTube and Twitch channel and Facebook page.