Led by the Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Katie Sadleir, top global sports administrators will discuss the growth of Esports in India as well as its potential future globally as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will be conducting the Esports Conference 2022, ‘Rise of Esports – The Emerging Frontier’, on Friday.
Since taking charge last year, the former Olympian swimmer Sadlier has encouraged the development of Esports globally and has also initiated the inclusion of the sport at the Commonwealth Games, considering the active engagement of under-30 age group in Esports. According to the Commonwealth’s website, an estimated 60% of the Commonwealth’s total population of 2.5bn people come from below the age of 30.
Earlier, the Commonwealth Games Federation announced Esports as a pilot event at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Asian Games has already announced it as a regular medal sport from the upcoming 2022 edition.
Among other leaders, who will also be joining the conversation are: Vlad Marinescu, President of International Esports Federation, Darren Kwan, President of Australian Esports Federation, Vinod Tiwari, President of Esports Federation of India and Director, International & NOC relations, Olympic Council of Asia and Lokesh Suji, Director of Esports Federation of India and Board Member & VP, Asian Esports Federation among others.
The conference will be conducted virtually.
“Esports is among the most exciting developments in the Indian sportscape. There are already firm data that points that Indian sports fans are ready to take to esports in a big way and that India is among the most significant emerging markets for this genre across the world. We embrace this opportunity and capitalize it with the right knowledge and institutional approaches and frameworks. The CII esports conference will have the best global sports administrators sharing their perspectives and insights on the rapid growth of Esports in the world as well as in India.” said Anupam Goswami, Chairman, CII National Committee on Sports & CEO of Mashal Sports & League Commissioner, Pro Kabaddi League.
A day-long conference will begin with the inaugural session which will be followed by below sessions,
Session 1: Esports – More than a Recreational Sport
Session 2: Esports – A Global Perspective
Session 3: Taking Esports Mainstream through OTT & Streaming
Session 4: Building Esports through key investments in India
CII, an Industry body, has been shaping India’s development journey and contributing transforming the Indian industry’s engagement in national development for more than 125 years.
Interestingly, India too has seen a tremendous increase in the Esports industry over the years. The number of Esports players in the country is expected to cross the 1-million mark by this year.
Notably, the total size of India’s esports industry is also expected to touch Rs 1100 crore by the financial year 2025, according to the EY Report of 2021. With the continuous growth, 100 brands are expected to invest by 2022 compared to 72 of last year.
The discussion will also witness perspectives of top Indian Esports players such as the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist Tirth Mehta and FIFA pro Lokmanyu Chaturvedi alongside the popular gaming creators including Animesh ‘8bit Thug’ Agarwal, Founder & CEO of 8-bit Creatives, Karan Mahesh Pathak, Associate Director, Esports of Krafton Inc and Anirudh Pandita, Founder of Loco as well as Hiren Mody, Vice P, resident, Strategy and Partnerships one of India’s leading grassroots multi-sports organisation—Sports For All.
