4 minute read
SPECIAL FEATURES
WORDS BY DONNA AMO
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Since Prime Minister, Narendra Modi announced the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative in May 2020, it has captured the nation’s attention. The phrase which translates to ‘Self-Reliant
India’ is is an inspiration for every sector in the country. It is an umbrella concept that veers towards making India establish a strong global presence by implementing policies that are more self-sufficient.
While the phrase itself has been used by PM Modi since 2014, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic that it gained notable recognition. Since then, many companies and ministries have used the phrase to guide them in their mission and goals.
The gaming industry has been an active participant in keeping the ethos of
Atmanirbhar Bharat alive. Various gaming companies ranging from game development to esports platforms are actively trying to work towards this goal of being a more self-reliant India. The gaming market in the country is already on the cusp of being one of the most lucrative markets in the country, with its market value estimated to be around INR 90 Million in 2020, according to Statista.com.
During the lockdown, while many businesses were shutting down, the online gaming market experienced an incredible boom. The global mobile gaming market had managed to register USD 87.7 Billion in sales which was a 24 % increase from the previous year (MarketWatch). India rose to the number one spot in mobile game downloads and is now one of the largest mobile gaming markets in the world.
In a statement made in August 2020, PM Modi stated that India should take advantage of the huge potential of the digital gaming sector. He encouraged game developers and designers to start developing games that were inspired by the nation’s culture and folktales. Along with this he asserted that the technology and innovation should meet global standards. This has encouraged many in the gaming sector to work on this goal. One such notable effort has been made by nCore Games, the developers of the home-grown gaming app FAU-G. Keeping up with the Prime Minister’s vision, FAU-G which stands for Fearless and United Guards, is a multiplayer action game that aims to highlight the sacrifices of the country’s soldiers. The game takes its inspiration from the real-life encounters of the Indian Security Forces when dealing with internal and external threats. The first level of
the game has the Galwan Valley as its backdrop.
It’s supported by the famous Bollywood actor, Akshay Kumar, who took to social media to announce this game. In his post he also mentioned that 20% of the net revenue generated from the game will be donated to the ‘Bharat Ke Veer’ Trust which gives homage and support to the country’s fallen soldiers. After a few delays, the game finally released on 26 January, 2021 i.e. Republic Day.
Vishal Gondal, founder and chairman of nCore Games stated, “It is a matter of great pride to respond to Prime Minister Modi’s call and present a world-class game, which will help gamers fight the forces of evil in a virtual setting while also contributing to nation-building by supporting our martyrs.”
Within the gaming market, the esports sector has also experienced an incredible rise in the country accounting for about 4% of all online gaming users and 9.13% of the total revenue from the online gaming market in 2020. Just recently, esports also managed to gain national-level recognition from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) who deemed it as an official sport in the country. This is a moment of celebration for many esports enthusiasts as the official declaration by the IOA will give more opportunities to professional esports gamers in the coming days.
The organizers at the Asian Games 2022 also included esports as an official medal sport, another incredible step forward in the area of competitive gaming. With official recognition from the IOA and the Asian Games, Indian esports players have the opportunity to win medals for their country. Esports athlete Tirth Mehta had already won a bronze medal in esports at the Asian Games 2018 for the game titled Hearthstone.
Ultimate Battle is an upcoming esports platform in India founded by Tarun Gupta. Since the platform aims to be India’s first one-stop esports online platform, we asked Gupta how this platform was contributing towards the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. “Since the inception of Ultimate Battle, the scope of work and effort put into the platform has been conceptualized, modeled, designed, and implemented here in India. For our tech requirements, we’ve also built in-house critical modules like platform analytics, game integration, chat support system, and many more in cohorts with our development team. Ultimate Battle is a platform for nurturing gamers. One of the core objectives of Ultimate Battle is to produce great talent who can represent India at the world level,” he said.
While the gaming industry is still in the nascent stage, its growth trajectory is promising. Charged up with PM’s initiative, many gaming enthusiasts in India can expect more homegrown gaming companies to crop up in the coming years. At least in the gaming sector, the country is well on its way to achieve the vision of a ‘Self-Reliant India.’
