While the world has already taken giant leaps in the online gaming industry, the state is gradually catching up with world-class infrastructure and talented professional gamers
BHUBANESAWAR: Their senses are heightened due to the adrenaline pumping in. They can’t figure out where the gunshots are coming from or where the enemy is. A grenade has exploded next to them and one of their team members is down, it’s mayhem. But they find him, eventually. Bam!! It’s a headshot. No, it’s not a description of a battlefield but a riveting session of an Esports game, a craze which is gaining an unprecedented rise in the capital city.
Esports is an umbrella term for a number of video games which is played between professional players, individually or as teams. Popular genres associated with Esports are multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first-person shooter (FPS), battle royale games, and real-time strategy (RTS).
League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike (CS), Call of Duty, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, Fortnite Battle Royale, PUBG and StarCraft are few of the games that are widely played.
While the world has already taken giant leaps in this industry, Odisha is gradually taking its baby steps into it. Take for instance E-sports Fight Club, a popular game parlour based at Lingipur here. Offering the best gaming configurations and ambience at moderate prices, the place has seen a sudden surge of gamers thronging the place in recent times.
“When I set up this place about two years ago, I used to host 16-20 customers a day. Now, the number has gone up to 30-40 gamers,” said Sumit Pattnaik, owner and manager of E-Sports Fight Club.
“While we have customers of almost every age group, students and youth in the age group of 18 to 30 are the most in numbers. CSGO is by far the most popular game. Fifa, PUBG, Forntine, DOTA and Rainbox Six Siege are also loved by the gamers,” he adds.
Individual organisations and gaming corporations are starting to identify the true potential of the city in Esports. Earlier in August this year, the qualifier round of the FIFA World Tour, India’s biggest eSports tournament, was held at Kalinga Stadium here.
Known for promoting gaming sphere, energy drink giant Red Bull too has jumped onto the bandwagon and have been recently conducting many tournaments in the city. With winning price amounting to Rs. 50,000 about 10-15 teams of four are said to be participating in every event with more teams set to join in future.
While the city promises a glaring prospect for Esports growth, social stigma and infrastructural demands remains its biggest challenges. Esports, which requires a certain skillet and hours of training, is often mistaken as mere casual gaming primarily done for entertainment.
“My son used to spend 6-7 hours playing at home until we talked him about his obsession. I have never restricted my children in pursuing any career they wish to take to but I’m not sure if there is any future in this field. Besides, the physical and mental degradation gaming brings is also pretty evident,” complained Sukanti Chand Behera, a resident here.
There is no denying that mental and physical effects of long hours of gaming bring in. The gaming industry has often been a topic of debate among health experts. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified gaming disorder in their International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). The ICD-11 is a list of diseases and medical conditions that health professionals use to make diagnoses and treatment plans.
While agreeing to this, Smita Choudhary, a psychologist said that ‘excess of anything is harmful.’ “Gaming has its benefit of improving coordination and concentration in an individual. It becomes an addiction when a person gets too involved in it and competitiveness takes over. However, akin to any addiction, its withdrawn should be gradual or else it may lead to shock.”
Adding to Smita’s point on ‘shock’, Sumit himself accounted to one such case in his parlour. “Once a Std X student used to spend hours at my shop. His parents once come and confronted him for bunking school for games, they even reprimanded me for promoting such things. After a few days, the parents themselves came with their child and requested to let him play for 2 hours every day.” This was after the child had refused anything to eat owing depression with sudden restriction on gaming.
Huge Potential
- Gaming corporations are starting to see the Esports potential of the city. Earlier in August this year, the qualifier round of FIFA World Tour, India’s biggest eSports tournament, was held at Kalinga Stadium here
- While the city promises a glaring prospect for Esports growth, social stigma and infrastructural demands remains its biggest challenges
- Online gaming, which requires a certain skillet and hours of training, is often mistaken as mere casual gaming primarily done for entertainment
Aviral Mishra, OP