Federation of Electronic Sports Associations of India (FEAI) has witnessed its efforts of driving consensus around building an esports ecosystem receiving a solid boost. FEAI has been meeting the key stakeholders for the growth of esports in India and sharing their knowledge paper for planned action.
It’s efforts and thoughts got an echo when Parliamentary Standing Committee for Education, Women, Children, Youth & Sports chairman Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe and Rajya Sabha member of parliament, urged the government to regulate the esport industry in India. In a special mention in the Rajya Sabha, he said, “The subject of special mention of the house, which is about developing a prudent ecosystem of Esports, including legally permissible e-gaming. I would like to draw the attention of the house to the fact that among the eight games that are medal sports in the Asian Games 2022 two are banned in India by the Ministry of Electronics Information Technology, due to Data pilferage concerns. What is required is to have a more holistic outlook toward esports and gaming, and in that regard, there have to be some efforts on the part of the Government to ensure that India’s flag is represented and players are selected for these tournaments in a fair and transparent manner. I request that wider concentrations need to be held, to develop a prudent esports ecosystem in India to further economic growth as well as job creation.”
Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe had previously highlighted in parliament the impact of online gaming on the youth and the need for positive regulation.
Federation of Electronic Sports Associations India founding member Vaibhav Dange said, “FEAI recently submitted its knowledge paper and sought support of Shri Vinay Sahasrabuddhe for a well-planned development of esports. We acknowledge his gesture towards our recommendation for the welfare of the esports industry.” He also added “The policy paper seeks to facilitate a policy-centered esports outlook that aims to address India’s unique definition for esports, which not only welcomes conventional global esports outlook but most importantly promotes India’s indigenous talent and narrative. The report also propounds a strong talent development ecosystem that covers the spectrum of talent, businesses, job creation, education, and revenue generation for India with regional centres of excellence.”
FEAI founding member and Telugu Esports Association (TESA) president Gagan Narang said, “We will continue to put our efforts to create discussions and debates among the policy makers to get esports in the mainstream category. Each sport represents a talent pool, and by regulating eSport it could benefit the gamers by creating opportunities and economic support. Our aim is to make a robust athlete friendly ecosystem.”
FEAI founding member Bhaichung Bhutia said, “Being a sport athlete, it is not an easy task to take up sports as a career, but any kind of economic opportunities for player can encourage a gamer to opt gaming as a career and enhance his ability to lead in the evolving industry. While esport is evolving globally at a rapid pace, it is important to regulate esport for creating an ecosystem that creates opportunities for leveraging the economic advantage.”
In the past, FEAI has also met with Minister of state electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and former Dy CM and member of parliament, Rajya Sabha Sushil Modi, to share the policy paper.
FEAI looks at esports as an important component of the overall gaming and sports industry of India. FEAI brings a holistic perspective that caters to all stakeholders: be it the developers who are designing the game or the players playing the game, or organisers organising tournaments. All of them have different roles to play. So, after looking at the situation from this holistic perspective, FEAI drafted the policy paper after interacting with the stakeholders. FEAI is focused on bringing Indian games to the fore. FEAI is also looking at a bottom-up approach, wherein it can host tournaments at colleges, universities, districts so on to cultivate the esports culture.
India is amongst the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. In the next two years, this sector will be worth Rs 3 lac crore. As PM Narendra Modi has time and again highlighted, India should lead the digital gaming sector, develop games inspired from its culture, folk tales and this is the genesis of the idea of FEAI of taking India’s ideas, definitions, and athletes in a rightful manner to the global centre stage.
There are over 1.7 million esports users presently in India, and some of these are professional athletes who have won international laurels for the country. Esports is set to be a medal sport in the Asian Games 2022, it will also be played as an exhibition event during the Commonwealth Games 2022 and FEAI hopes could be soon inducted in the Olympics once the International Olympic Committee determines the format.