Indian Esports faced a massive roller coaster ride amid bans of online multiplayer games in 2022. The industry has been hit badly following the ban on two of the major esports titles, BGMI and Free Fire. The Indian gaming industry has been seeking support from the Indian government to regulate gaming in the country. It looks like that the Indian government has finally understood the significance of gaming and esports. The Indian government has officially recognized esports under the category of multi sports events. This means that Esports will now be a part of multi-sports events and Ministry of Youth Affairs. A section related to matters related to online gaming has also been added under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

In March 2022, Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget announced to setup AVGC task force to promote animation, visual effects, gaming and comic sector in India. Few days later, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi also shared his views on the importance of gaming in India. PM Modi said that India is one of the top five markets of mobile gaming. He mentioned that gaming sector can play a significant role to boost ‘Create in India’ vision of the nation.

Despite a positive approach of the Indian government towards gaming, Free Fire and BGMI were banned in India under section 69A of the IT Act. With Esports being recognized in India, it would be important to see what plans does the government have for the banned titles. Many industry specialists including Skyesports Gaming CEO Shivanandy and Orangutan Gaming CEO Yash Bhanushali have already predicted the year 2023 to be massive for the Indian gaming industry. They also predicted the comeback of BGMI and Free Fire in the first quarter of 2023. It would be interesting to see what does 2023 hold for the growth of esports in India.

Many industry specialists including Khiladi Adda CEO Satyam Rastogi, Skyesports Gaming CEO Shivanandy, and Orangutan Gaming CEO Yash Bhanushali have already predicted the year 2023 to be massive for the Indian gaming industry. They also predicted the comeback of BGMI and Free Fire in the first quarter of 2023. It would be interesting to see what 2023 holds for the growth of esports in India.