In conversation with Sidharth Kedia, Group CEO, NODWIN Gaming

In a candid conversation with The Gaming Reporter, Sidharth Kedia, the Group CEO of NODWIN Gaming shared his opinion about impact of the pandemic on esports, future of esports in India & ESL India Premiership

The Gaming Reporter – What do you think has changed about the Indian region that has made it a conversation topic in the esports world?

Esports in India for a long time was on a slow growth trajectory till mobile esports made it big in the sub-continent. The appetite for mobile devices and the monumental rise of mobile gaming coupled with cheap internet proved to be the turning point for esports in India. With more than 300 million mobile gamers, it laid a solid foundation for the ecosystem to catapult in exponential growth.

TGR – Esports turned out to be the incidental beneficiary of the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. But as countries begin to examine paths toward loosening stay-at-home restrictions and reopening businesses, will the industry be able to sustain its newfound gains? Retain the gamers once they start going out?

It is a proven fact that all active forms of entertainment are preferred over passive. As a result, it is highly unlikely that the audience will go back to older norms of entertainment. The overwhelming reception points to a minimal dip in audience numbers even post-lockdown. The school and college-going population might see reduced time spent on viewing and playing games. However, it will still be more than pre-COVID times. We are hoping to retain a good 75-80% of the newly gained watch time. 

TGR – What is NODWIN’s focus going forward into the esports industry in India? Is it focusing more on mobile esports or mainstream PC Gaming esports? Factually speaking in comparison to PC games like DOTA2 etc., PUBG Mobile has a far greater viewership. Does it make India’s esports future more or entirely as mobile-centric only?

Currently, we are looking at a good mix of PC and mobile esports. PUBG Mobile is leading the charge in terms of penetration. PC esports is showing signs of a strong comeback with Valorant. The NODWIN Valorant Invitational alone gathered more than 2 million views, which is exceptional for a PC esports tournament in India. I would say although the future is mobile dominant, it will have a healthy mix of console and PC esports also. 

TGR – With the exponential growth in esports in India, the fifth edition of the ESL India 2020 Premiership must be set to get bigger with a rise in the number of entries? How does the new line-up of games look like?  

The new line-up of games got an overwhelming response in the opening season itself. It set tone for the upcoming seasons this year, and I’m sure that these numbers are only going to go north. As I said, our plan to fill in PC, mobile and console games worked well in our favour with 19X increase in registrations in the summer season of ESL India 2020 Premiership as compared to last year.

TGR – Would you like to walk our readers through NODWIN Gaming’s #PlayApartTogether campaign for the Indian audience?

The campaign was a WHO initiative with the top game developers and publishers from around the world. NODWIN as a key player in the South Asia region, took up the campaign for its India counterpart to keep the young minds indoors and entertained. The lockdown took a toll on mental health and video games proved to be the saviour in disguise.

TGR – How do you see the esports market in India in comparison to other markets in developed countries?    

There is a gap that is filling fast between India and world markets. We can say that esports in India has achieved penetration and mass appeal recently, similar to how CS:GO in Europe and North America achieved 10-15 years ago. In our case, the games happen to be the likes of PUBG Mobile, FreeFire and COD Mobile.

The demographic dividend of India stands to uniquely benefit the gaming and esports Industry. In terms of the platform of choice, the Indian gaming and esports story is being led by Mobile, as compared to USA, which is a console country, or Europe, wherein PC is the dominant gaming platform.

To cash in on the mass appeal, local OTT platforms and TV channels have jumped in on the esports bandwagon with tournament broadcasts on a regular basis. This shift in interest has massively helped esports reach the gamers and common population alike. The broadcast ecosystem is still in a nascent stage. Though it is a matter of time before we have dedicated esports OTT platforms like Twitch or 24-hour esports linear channels like ProSieben in India.

Prize pool is one major factor to measure the scale of an esports market. India in 2018-19 recorded a staggering ~200% increase in prize money given out.