INDIA ’ S ESPORTS sector is poised to see significant growth over the next few years , with multiple platforms emerging as well as a growing number of professional gamers in the country .

Game revenue in India has doubled in the last five years , reaching $ 1bn in 2020 , due mainly to a steady flow of new releases from publishers , growth in in-game microtransactions and advertising revenue . Countrywide , online gaming revenue is expected to reach $ 2.1bn by 2023 .

It is also a country where more than 50 % of the population is aged under 25 , the majority of whom are gamers . According to KPMG , India ’ s total online gaming user base reached 360 million in 2020 , ⁴ with casual mobile gamers making up the largest segment .

Esports recorded revenue of some $ 95m in FY21 , about 9.8 % of the global esports market in 2020 . ⁵

The esports audience grew to 17 million in 2020 , while the prize pool for esports grew around 25-30 % in the same year . KPMG expects the audience for esports to grow to 130 million by 2025 .

“ In the aftermath of the pandemic , mobile esports and streaming witnessed a significant surge in user base as people had more time on hand . In order to cater to this audience , multigaming platforms , streaming players and telcos have

INDIA ESPORTS BETTING PROJECTION *

2020

2021

* Number of people ( in millions ) betting on esports . Data projected by selecting those in Newzoo ’ s esports audience aged 20 +

started to invest in esports tournaments

to capture or engage their users ,”

Girish Menon , head of media and

entertainment at KPMG in India told

The Economic Times .

STATE OF ESPORTS BETTING IN INDIA

While there is an overarching

federal law called The Public

Esports titles popular in India

PUBG , CS : GO , Dota 2 , Overwatch

Gambling Act of 1867 , which

prohibits all gambling in India , the

country has left it to individual states to

regulate the activity .

However , there are currently no

laws in place that specifically legalise

betting on esports across the Indian

states . The only state that comes

close is Sikkim , which has expressly

allowed sports betting and online

gambling under the Sikkim Online

Gaming ( Regulation ) Act 2008 . The

legality of esports betting in Sikkim

would be reliant on whether esports

is considered a sport for the purposes

of the Act .

To this end , there have been moves

from the government to consider

recognising esports as an official

sport . Esports Federation of India

( ESFI ) director Lokesh Suji has been a

vocal lobbyist in this regard .

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