Gaming in India has witnessed far-reaching changes in recent times and gamers are emerging from various walks of life: Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer and Gaming PC, System Business Group, ASUS India

ASUS India has been stalwarts of the nation’s esports scene for a very long time now.

With their latest series of ROG initiatives - Academy, Showdown, and Master - they aim at building Indian esports from the very grassroots.

In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda Esports’ Abhishek Mallick, Mr. Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer and Gaming PC of System Business Group, ASUS India talks about some of the thoughts that went behind these initiatives.

Here is an excerpt of the conversation.

Q. Arnold, can you share some of your personal opinions on the current state of esports in India, for both mobile and PC platforms?

Arnold Su: Though at a nascent stage, India’s Esports industry is currently one of the fastest-growing industries. Reports from KPMG estimate that the audience for esports will exceed 130 million by 2025.

Gaming has picked up a lot of steam over the past few months, and this growing population of gamers has created a dedicated gaming community in India.

Additionally, the advent of technology has brought many gaming focused devices into the industry which are designed to uplift the gaming experience of the enthusiast while making it smoother. Both Mobile and PC gaming space have massive potential in India.

Q. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact when it came to the consumption of video games both in terms of viewership and player participation. What would you say were some of the major boosts that the Indian video game industry received during the lockdown?

Arnold Su: The pandemic is steadily contributing to the normalization and adoption of e-gaming. It has led to a shift in content consumption patterns, increased digital acceleration, and altered consumer behavior. People are spending more time at home seeking new and diverse sources of entertainment and indoor activities.

The lockdown helped build deeper in-roads in terms of online content consumption. We have witnessed a tremendous increase in traffic in categories like gaming, over the top (streaming) services, hosting and social media platforms.

Gaming has emerged as one of the most preferred entertainment options. Global spending on games rose by 17% to $10.5 billion. In India, the industry grew at a CAGR of 21% during the lockdown, with a steadily increasing customer base crossing 300 million users and several female gamers at the forefront of this revolution.

ASUS ROG as a brand has been contributing towards esports from the start. After a successful 1st edition, the second edition of ROG Showdown has kickstarted. It encourages gamers to #StayAtHome through the global pandemic and provides them with opportunities to test their mettle by pitching their skills against opponents of similar or greater skills.

Q. With monetary investment in the Indian gaming industry reaching new milestones with every fiscal year, there has been a significant rise in the total number of career options in the field. What would you say are some of the more popular and lucrative job opportunities in the industry right now?

Arnold Su: The Indian e-gaming industry has huge potential. The Government of India has started recognizing the importance of the growing esports community and has initiated proactive steps to establish the community more concretely which will help in creating more jobs in the digital gaming industry.

The industry has opened up many career opportunities for gaming enthusiasts. Although becoming an Esports athlete and playing competitively with a team is what most people aim for, there are also quite a few non-playing jobs in other departments like management, operations, sales, event planning, coaching, and even social media coordinating.

Furthermore, initiatives such as ROG Academy by Asus are boosting career opportunities by training and supporting enthusiasts to evolve and compete in world class tournaments.

Q. ASUS programs and initiatives in India like the ROG Academy, ROG Showdown, and ROG Master, play a big part when it comes to developing the esports talents in the region. Can you talk to us about some of the thoughts that went behind them? What is the future like for the ROG programs? Where and how far do you see the initiatives going in the next couple of years?

Arnold Su: Although India has shown exponential growth in the Esports Industry, it is still a little behind some of its global counterparts. Our esports initiative, ROG Academy, is articulately designed to provide the right infrastructure and training to potential gamers and get them ready to compete on a global scale.

ROG Showdown and ROG masters are platforms for Indian gamers to showcase their talent on a larger scale and face off against other skilled players globally.

We started the season at ROG Academy with Counter Strike: Global Offensive but we are looking at expanding to other games as well over the next session. We plan on expanding our existing portfolio to include games from various genres while training more and more professionals to excel in the field of esports.

We want to play our part in improving the esports ecosystem in India, be it via training new talent or giving the players a bigger platform to showcase their talent.

Q. You recently announced the first quarter of the ROG Academy with CS: GO as the main title. What was the response like from the community? Can you tell us a bit more about the ASUS ROG Academy and what you have in store for the initiative in the coming months?

Arnold Su: ASUS ROG Academy is India’s first virtual academy program for gamers. After receiving an overwhelming response of over 2350 registrations from aspiring professionals, ASUS ROG commenced its journey with the first batch of six shortlisted finalists.

The selected players are currently going through their training phase where they are receiving instructions from veterans in the esports circuit. Each of the selected players will have a specific role in their team and will be trained to hone their skill to an edge.

The course will focus on various aspects of gaming including, but not limited to, communication, strategy, and endurance. ASUS ROG Academy will not only look after training but will also equip participants with all necessary gear and products.

Also, ASUS ROG will be providing the whole team (6 PC gamers) monetary compensation of INR15,000/ as a stipend during the three month of training period. All of them will get an Ex-Gratia-Gratia of INR 1,00,000 once they complete their 3-month training successfully.

At the end of their training players will get to represent the ASUS ROG team for three months in other tournaments in the circuit and gain new experiences. We are also planning more iterations featuring other games in the coming quarters of this year.

Q. Do you feel that Valve’s shooter still has a shot at a comeback in India, especially since Valorant has been doing so well? What are your thoughts on Riot Games’ Valorant? How successful do you feel it will be in the Indian esports landscape?

Arnold Su: Counter Strike is the original competitive shooter we all know and love, and it has its own legacy. Although games like Valorant are quite good and have a very engaging gameplay, Counter Strike offers the purest form of tactical gameplay. We are positive and hopeful that Counter Strike still has quite a few years before it leaves the stage.

Valorant has introduced some very interesting elements to a tactical shooter. The shopping mechanics are quite similar to CS: GO, but the added power ups are quite reminiscent of Blizzard’s Overwatch. It does have a lot of potential in the Indian esports landscape. We did see a lot of participation for Valorant during the ROG Showdown and the game does look quite promising.

Additionally, our gaming focused products and accessories are designed to further boost the experience of gaming. The vibrant display, fast processor, and enhanced cooling system makes every element of the Riot Games’ Valorant come to life.

Q. When it comes to esports, where do you feel India stands at the moment when compared to the rest of the world?

Arnold Su: Gaming in India has witnessed far-reaching changes in rectimes, and gamers are emerging from various walks of life. The count of online gamers in India grew by 31% in 2019 and reached approximately 365 million; is expected to reach 440 million by 2022 as per a FICCI- EY report on media and entertainment industry.

With a large influx of investments from multiple brands across multiple industries, the esports segment is bound to grow exponentially over the next few years. The e-gaming industry’s growth relies on well-rounded development of the larger ecosystem and many industry first initiatives.

Aligned with this, ASUS announced the launch of India’s first virtual academy program for gamers this year. As part of this initiative, ASUS ROG will identify PC gamers and provide them with a platform to sharpen and enhance their skills and prepare them for competitive E-sport tournaments on a national and a global level.

This initiative is a testimony to India being an important market for ASUS’s consistent efforts towards building a strong gaming ecosystem in India and empowering gamers through a number of programs and initiatives.

As a No.1 gaming laptop brand, we strongly believe that the esports industry has huge potential to provide multiple career options in the country and is only set to grow further in years to come.

Q9. Do you feel Indian esports in PC will be as popular as its mobile counterpart in the long run?

Arnold Su: India’s online gaming industry is seeing impressive growth. The pandemic has encouraged many mobile gamers who are looking for a more enhanced and immersive gaming experience to see PCs as a viable option.

This has further pushed the demand for gaming laptops in India. We witnessed three times increase in sales of gaming laptops as compared to pre-COVID-19 era last year and have sold over 80% of 14-inch Zephyrus G14 within 24 hours of sale in 2020.

While mobile gaming offers portability, mobility and 24x7 access, PC gaming offers professional, graphic-intensive and high-end gaming experience. Gaming laptops these days are not just thin and light but also come equipped with high refresh rate displays, larger battery life, high end graphic cards, fast processors, and enhanced cooling systems.

PCs allow better control over the game, allowing you to incorporate various gaming accessories such as gaming keyboard, console, mouse, headset etc. that only boost your in-game experience. With technology evolving at an exponential rate, the gaming industry will see a radical expansion in years to come with new trends carving up the gaming landscape in the country.