esports: Workforce skills in esports, its emergence and scope in India
When we think of sports, we imagine a scene from our favourite cricket match or an iconic goal in football, or a range of other physical games which require exceptional skills and athletic ability for playing. However, the realm of esports is rapidly becoming one of the most popular forms of entertainment and competition in the country. The esports sector is still in a developing stage in India while emerging trends lead to the fact that this industry is all set to grow by leaps and bounds and will soon rival the traditional sports leagues in India.
What is esports?
Esports can be described as the world of competitive, organized video gaming. Competitors from different leagues or teams face off in the same games that are popular with at-home gamers.
Emergence in India
Globally, esports and gaming are the largest entertainment sector, dominating the revenue of traditional industries like movies and music. With an increasing number of tournaments, active viewers, and engagement around esports activities in the country, India is catching up fast with the trend. Owing to India's much younger gaming demographic and relatively late arrival into the world of gaming, India is set to be one of the largest potential esports markets for the coming decade.
Scope in India
India ranked 16 on the Forbes list, making it a multi-billion-dollar industry. It has successfully taken over the Indian market because of the promotion and campaign on various online streaming platforms like YouTube. India has successfully hosted some of the most notable tournaments in esports, such as PUBG Mobile Series 2019 and the Electronic Sports League, joined by Dota 2 players from different parts of the world. Another significant point to remember is the scope of esports in India is not limited to the players only but extends to various other roles and support services around esports. The infrastructure that supports and continues to propel esports consists of producers who employ teams of editors, photographers, hosts, interviewers, analysts, esports journalists, product managers, game testers, tournament referees, entire production crews, etc. Hence the scope of esports in India is immense and is only going to increase.
What are the different skills required to be able to work in the esports industry?
- Communication: Be it playing on an esports team or working for one, the job requires you to be able to convey your thoughts in a concise yet speedy manner as many things can be happening at any given time. Coordinating these different thoughts together to give the team a synchronised mindset is critical to achieving victory. Good communication allows for better synergy with others which makes for some excellent highlights.
- Research: Playing the esports game of your choice matters a lot, but one of the components to esports that should get as much coverage is the research aspect. From learning new techniques, knowledge on how to take down a particular character to the mechanism behind the game are mostly achieved through research.
- Critical thinking: It is one of the most powerful skills you can have while working in esports. A part of critical thinking within esports includes the ability to get inside the head of your opponents and try to read their minds. The battles are not only played on screens but also in the minds of the players.
- Multitasking: esports equip some of the best multitaskers as many games take the players on such levels that they have to multitask to guess the next moves of their opponents. During a match, players have to keep track of many moving components while paying attention to different bars and meters to gather every piece of key information within the game to defeat their rivals. And in this way multitasking becomes a part of the everyday routine.
The growth of the esports market will definitely create more career opportunities for passionate individuals. In the coming years, the growth and engagement in the esports industry are going to increase.
Pearson recognises the need and value of different types of emerging skills and workforce development in India. Pearson BTEC courses prepare learners for a successful career in their chosen industry with hands-on practical learning. BTEC opens doors to a variety of career opportunities for learners and provides them with real-life skills to meet industry demands.
