Esports in Bangladesh: An untapped industry on the rise.

 What is Esports?

Electronic sports, or Esports, consist of competitive video gaming in online or in-person tournaments, which often offer cash or other compensatory prizes. Esports operates the same way as any other professional sports organization or franchise.Professional teams contract players, both specializing and competing in one or more specific video games. In contrast to mainstream professional sports, instead of athletic equipment, Esports players typically come geared with a gaming PC rig that boasts specialized keyboards, gaming mice, graphic cards, and other helpful gadgets.According to a report by CNBC in 2019, Netflix said that Fortnite - one such game in the Esports sector- was a more significant competition than HBO. Even a decade back, the general public deemed the idea that those who play video games for a living have much in common with high-level professional athletes as laughable. But massive growth in the industry has even led different governments to recognize gamers as athletes.China, one of the world's largest Esports markets in the world, generated $385 million in 2020 and was estimated to grow at a compounded rate of 17% until 2023. According to Statista.com, the revenue from mobile gaming alone in India will reach $6,225 million by 2025.

Esports in Bangladesh

Various segmentations exist within the Esports scenario of Bangladesh, with mobile gaming being the most popular one currently. With games like PUBG Mobile, Free Fire Battlegrounds, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Call of Duty: Mobile, Among Us, Fall Guys, Etc. garnering worldwide fame, Bangladesh did not lag behind. For a long time, Bangladeshi PC gamers dominated the scene in the SEA region. Teams like Zeusaberz Esports and others have a long-standing reputation for showcasing their competitive prowess in games like Rainbow Six Siege, CS: GO, Apex Legends, Etc.Players from Bangladesh have represented the country in events of various global platforms as early as 2007- such as that of World Cyber Games (WCG), which was globally very popular in that decade.According to industry insiders, during the 2020-2021 period, Esports saw a significant rise in popularity, marketing, endorsement, and competition, with tournament prizes- one of the key incentives for players to invest their time and effort into the industry -gradually rising over the years. Just two years back, the biggest tournaments would have an accumulative prize money of Tk5,000. Now, events with more than Tk1 lakh in prize money are held monthly, and the players see Esports as a career option, said a top official of Zenetic Gaming- a local Esports company.

In Bangladesh, the Esports industry is still going unchecked and unregulated. According to various stakeholders of the industry, a sustainable backbone to the industry must be established and nourished at its core.Moderators must be implemented to coach the players from a grassroots level. Agencies that can transparently manage teams, the industry's finances, and intra-country rivalries must be elected to ensure a smooth flow between teams, players, and investors looking to enter the market.