Esports in India has witnessed a meteoric rise in the last few years.
The Government of India has provided a massive boost to the esports industry after it officially recognised esports as part of multi-sports events in December 2022.
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, exercised the powers “conferred by clause (3) of article 77 of the Constitution” and amended the rules governing esports and ordered the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Sports Ministry to include esports as part of multi-sports events.
According to the State of Gaming Report 2022, the esports industry in India will reach a market cap of $140 million by 2027 with an estimated Compound Annual Growth Rate or CAGR of 32%.
While the players in the esports category in India in 2021 was 150,000, it jumped to 6,00,000 in 2022. The number is expected to rise to 15,00,000 by 2027.
With esports gaining a lot of traction in recent times, get to know about some of the top esports teams in India.
Top esports teams in India
Team S8ul
Owned and led by Naman Mathur aka Mortal, Animesh Agarwal aka 8Bit Thug, and Lokesh Jain aka Goldy, Team S8ul is one of the best teams in the Indian esports circuit. It is a merger between two esports organizations, SOUL and 8bit. S8UL. Team S8ul won the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series (BMPS) in June 2022. They also created history when they became the first team to bag all individual and team awards at the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series (BMPS). S8ul Esports was also rewarded with the “Content Group of the Year” at the esports award 2022. Furthermore, they represented India on the global stage by Tencent for the PUBG Mobile World Invitational 2022.
Godlike Esports
Started in 2018 by popular BGMI player and streamer Chetan ‘Kronten’ Chandgunde, Godlike Esports is one of the top esports organisations in the country. The team has some of the most talented BGMI players such as Jonathan and Clutchgod. Godlike Esports represented India in the PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC 2021). They finished second in the BGMI Master Series last year.
Orangutan Gaming
Team Orangutan has become one of the most fierce esports teams based in India. The organization currently has rosters in BGMI (Pubg Mobile), Free Fire and Pokémon Unite. Team Orangutan finished second in the Battlegrounds Mobile India Showdown 2022. In May of last year, the talented Orangutan gaming team also clinched the Penta BGMI Invitational 2022.
Enigma Gaming
India-based Enigma Gaming has made its mark in the Valorant esports circuit in India. They won the TEC Challenger Series 8, WD Black Cup: Season 3 - King of the Hill, Taiwan Excellence Gaming Cup - 2021 and the Penta Challenge in 2021. Meanwhile, Enigma Gaming finished second in Skyesports Champions Series, Skyesports Souvenir 2022 - Mumbai, The Esports Club Gauntlet - Season 4, Esportz Premier Series and Skyesports Championship 3.0.
TeamXSpark
Led by Tanmay ‘ScoutOP’Singh and managed by Urvesh, TeamXSpark is one of the versatile esports teams and has excelled in Free Fire and PUBG Mobile. They emerged as the winner at the THUG Invitational: Season 4 and PUBG Mobile Club Open - Fall Split 2020: India. Team XSpark Battlegrounds Mobile India team main lineup comprises Aditya (Aditya Mathe), Pukar (Pukar Singla), Sarang (Sarangajyoti Deka), Mavi (Harmandeep Singh) and Sc0utOP (Tanmay Singh).
Photo credit: Alamy
