'Gaming in India is booming, the competition is very tough'

Gaming has come a long way – from being a source of entertainment in the early days to now becoming a means of revenue generation. Today, we not only have gaming leagues and championships but also gamers and gaming influencers. An engaging discussion (on the topic ‘What does gaming mean to gamers and brands’) at the recently-held e4m GameOn Summit delved into the gaming industry. Noted gamers and gaming influencers opened up about their idea of gaming, what it means to them and the attributes that make a successful gamer, among other topics.

The panel comprised Ankit Panth, Redbull athlete; e-sport athletes Saloni. Aditya Sawant and Raj Varma; Prashant Sukhwani, VP-Marketing, Burger King;  Rony Dasgupta, Indian roaster and gamer; Anshu Bisht, Indian Youtuber and gamer; and George Kovoor, CCO, Wavemaker. The session was chaired by Abhishek Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Trinity gaming.

Briefly explaining what gaming means to him, Pant said, “Gaming means everything to me. Whatever I have built, I have built from gaming. I started when I was 15 years old.” Sawant added, “Gaming basically is a package of entertainment that I can provide my audience and make some connection with them.”

Sukhwani, after cracking a joke on being a millennial in the panel, said, “Whilst most people here are creating content and earning a livelihood from gaming, gaming for me has two perspectives. One is personal because I was an only child and a lonely one so, gaming kind of helped me develop a lot of skillsets and pass time. It allows me to be therapeutic, explore creativity and be curious because a lot of games that I play are about history and culture with story-driven narratives. The other thing, as a brand manager or marketer, gaming really allows me to connect with audience in a unique way because at the end of the day, marketing is all about aggregation consumers. And the gaming community is such that it really allows you to establish communities and connections which go far beyond just a normal campaign or just advertising.”

“Gaming for me is just lifestyle,” Saloni pointed out, “It is a means of escape. I am an introvert, so gaming allows me to explore more of myself and my personality.” Dasgupta echoed Saloni’s thoughts about gaming being a means of escape from reality. “When I do not understand what is happening in life, I start playing,” he added. Varma, who has been playing games since his childhood days, said that gaming started as a hobby. He said, “I turned that hobby into a profession. It is my passion now.”

Kovoor, another millennial on the panel, said, “I had a deep personal connect with gaming; it drove my parents absolutely nuts because I was stuck on to gaming and consoles all my life. I wish they were here to see where it landed me.”  

Talking about the key attributes that help become a successful gaming influencer, Sawant said, “I started in 2010 and 2016, I was only a gamer and not an influencer.  I was only playing and uploading videos. Since 2016, I have been streaming. Being a gamer and an influencer are two different things but if you learn both of them, it will help you to become a gamer influencer. You just have to strike a balance.”

Panth highlighted the attributes required to be a successful gamer: “I am an e-sports athlete, so I will give you that perspective. Competing is everything for an athlete and when I started, I saw that you can represent India in this field. So, that kind of motivated me. And the key attributes would be you have to be patient, work hard and be consistent in this field. Only then can you get result. Because the gaming scene in India is booming now so the competition is very tough.”