New Delhi: At the cusp of turning 20, esports athlete Charanjot Singh is ready to represent India at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023. The Chandigarh youth will pair up with Karman Singh Tikka to form India’s FIFA Online 4 team.
Esports, or electronic sports, encompass the world of competitive and organised video gaming. It has received sporting recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Esports players are called ‘athletes’ not ‘nerds’, according to Esports Federation of India (ESFI).
In an interview to ThePrint, Singh spoke about his journey from a leisure gamer to an esports athlete, vibrancy of the Indian gaming ecosystem, and more. Excerpts
How did you enter the world of professional esports gaming?
“I started playing at 14. I didn’t own a console then (2017) and I went over to my friend’s place to play. This went on until 2018 when we went to our first tournament, which took place in Chandigarh. … Friends and I were playing Fifa for 4-5 months, but we went without knowing what it’s like to compete at a higher level. We were decent but we didn’t think we would win the tournament at all. Somehow, we won the tournament — ‘Road to Russia ultimate Championship’.
The winner could either get the chance to watch the World Cup in Russia 2018, or take the prize money of Rs 1 lakh. The first thing I did was to buy a gaming console. I was 15 and convincing my parents was a huge deal, but I started competing more. When covid hit, I had all the time to hone my skills to go pro later.
In late 2020, India also got the eligibility to compete at the world stage for FIFA. esports teams also started coming in at that point of time.
How do you feel about your event at the Asian Games?
It feels surreal and amazing, going out there and representing India at the biggest stage is a thing that makes me extremely proud. We hopefully want to get a medal back. We’ll see what the result is going to be, but we are up against Korea, Singapore and even Thailand.
We are going to be part of the Indian team contingent and we are going to get a chance to meet other athletes. I’m looking forward to learning from them because they are among the best at what they do.
With esports gaining popularity relatively recently, how do you perceive its rise? Will you recommend others to pursue a career in esports?
Esports is new in India, and convincing anyone including parents is hard. The key is being extremely good. For your chances to be realistic, you have to be in the top 1% of the gamers because of the cutthroat competition worldwide.
It’s nice to have a team that funds travels and gives salaries. If you’re getting salaries like any other profession, it’s easier to sustain your career.
Every game and athlete has different salaries and contacts depending on the social media traction and game they play. A lot of followers for a creator or gamer could mean a lot of sponsorship deals. A normal competitor can expect somewhere from Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
The main revenue streams for such teams is taking a cut on the prize money of LAN tournaments, sponsorships from the social media reach and also organising various events. You can’t point at esports and say you’re sorted for life because of its ever changing nature and there’s no certainty you’ll get a good contract every year. If you’re good at what you do and content, you can continue it as a career. I’m studying and I’m in my final year of bachelors.
As for esports in India, how inclusive is it in terms of gender representation and
participation? Specifically, involvement of women gamers.
Inclusion and eligibility is free of any age or gender bias. There is no Under-17 or Under-19 like other sports but minimum age for some games is 14-15 because they need parental advisory. There are not a significant number of women, but there are many who are competing and participating.
The team I represent ‘Godlike’ has a Call of Duty mobile women’s team. They (women) are also under team contracts… They are also esports creators that represent at a bigger level for a bigger audience like Payal Gaming (@payalgamingg) with 2.6 million Instagram followers or others.
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How does it feel to represent India on such a stage? Additionally, what are your thoughts on inclusion of esports in events like the Asian Games?
I’ll speak about the recent one, ‘FIFA-E Nations’, which took place in July in Riyadh. It’s very hard to qualify. We fell short in the group stage… It was a huge experience sharing time with top players. There were 24 teams and the prize pool was 1 million dollars. It was organised by FIFA itself. We had Germany, Peru, Sweden, Israel and South Africa in our group. They have an edge because they get to compete in more tournaments
India and Southeast Asia is a comparatively smaller community when compared to the Americas or European countries. They have better contracts which help them play even better”
Elaborate the seeding rounds at the Asian Games and India’s standing in the esports arena in comparison to other nations?
For the seeding of the Asian Games, we were divided into smaller regions like West Asia, North Asia and South-East Asia. We were from South Asia. Mainly there were 4 divisions, which meant there were four number 1 seeds going into the Asian Games. We are first seeds from South Asia and that will help us at the Asian Games as we won’t have to face the difficult teams in the beginning. It was not easy coming first at the South Asia seeding rounds. My counterpart Karman Tikka was ranked 5th seed.
What steps and infrastructure are needed for aspiring gamers to transition into the professional scene, to represent India?
Let’s say if you are a 14-year-old gaming enthusiast. There’s no set process but if you’re good at what game you’re playing and having fun, then you should try and participate in a lot of tournaments.
For FIFA, if you’re about 16- 17 years, first register at EA FIFA global series website in its database. There you can find different types of competitions and events. The bigger events qualify you for a world event. For tournaments organised by FIFA, you can register at fifa.gg. Right now it’s off season but a newer version is coming around late September.
There was an open qualifier for the Asian Games. There is no age criteria. Over 250 gamers participated and I was chosen. It had the participation of Esports Federation of India (ESFI) and there were open qualifiers for other games as well.
What does the future hold for esports in India? Given confusion between esports and fantasy sports, what are your comments?
Fantasy sports and esports are different. Esports is unlike any other sport but digital, whereas fantasy sports is more of gaming and a game of chance. You can’t predict but in esports you can make speculations based on a players skill and form like other physical sports. Two-three years ago, there was less recognition for esports. More journalists and brands are now interested, which is a testament to its growth in India
StarSports is also broadcasting the BGMI Master Series, which is getting us more recognition. India is a young nation, and it has a lot of potential going ahead. I’m lucky to be part of this new wave of esports.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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