India can become the next big market for LAN gaming tournaments

India and competitive video games are finally intertwining. Mobile and PC gaming have taken over the country by storm with LAN tournaments and events hosted regularly like never before. What has taken place in India during the pandemic was unprecedented. Due to the rise of social media and fast internet, gaming casually and competitively has become a daily pursuit.

This trend can be taken one stage further if allowed to grow organically and with a proper plan.

Back in May, Skyesports had announced the first ever Valorant LAN event in Mumbai. While this news created quite the buzz for the game, many were eager to see how it all pans out. The pandemic had caused a stoppage to the few offline events that happened. It was the first time that a company wanted to take things forward and have a Lan Tournament for a game like Valorant. Previously it was known to most that there was more hype and time invested in mobile games like PUBG, Free Fire and BGMI.

Current state of LAN tournaments in India

There was yet another major LAN event going on recently, the BGMI Masters Series. While BGMI is in simple words the Indian-based version of PUBG. BGMI Masters Tournament was the first ever esports event to be broadcasted on Live TV. It’s a showcase of now the tides have shifted in the esports industry towards India.

In the eyes of many fans this is the first step in this transition and recognition of the esports scene. Furthermore, Skyesports announced yet another Valorant event scheduled to take place in Hyderabad. It feels as though the ball is rolling and can’t be stopped anymore. Other conventions are now starting around various cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad as well. Seeing the hype in the current growth in the esports scene right now. More companies are willing to sponsor teams as well as events taking place as well.

LAN Tournament boom in India for the rest of the season

Affordable mobile devices, fast internet and regional servers have made gaming available for a generation of children who are now playing video games with their friends. Kids nowdays wish to focus on games that can be played online. As such, there is now more exposure to the gaming industry and technology. For adolescents, a major factor is that Valorant in itself have a server in India. Due to this most of the games played are majorly lag-free.

The ease of gaming as well as the ease of good high-speed internet gaming cafes are booming again. I know this might seem odd for the global readership, but for India this changes are massive. The hype for offline events is rising daily. It has been made easier now to organize events and be able to market them. There are multiple closed and open areas around the country to host events with fans.

Looking at SkyEsports vision, we can clearly see LAN events and building fandom are the next big step forward. Only time will tell if the ideal plan of action for hosting such an event will take place. If so it could be the start of massive LAN events with fans attending in droves. It could only be a few months from now, when we could see around 5,000 fans in the first Valorant tournament held in a stadium to see one team qualify for the APAC Qualifiers.

Imagine how far offline events can go next year.