JOIN USOne hundred gamers, a gaming cafe billed as India’s largest, and a strategy game of intense twists and challenges. As the DOTA-2 Lan tournament switched gears with its contestants riveted to their PCs on Saturday, the ‘League of Extraordiary Gamers’ in Indiranagar here launched another chapter in Bengaluru’s spirited emergence as the country’s hottest gaming destination.
The City’s current count of 15 gaming cafes might be deceptively small. But the largest of them has 9,500 active, registered users, and growing. On tournament day, the place looked like it had even more, as the gamers sat glued to the 40 consoles. Teaming up in fives, the contestants established Local Area Networks (LAN) between their PCs to play multiple games.
The team, Full Meals eventually won the top prize after a fiery contest beating 31 others. Team leader, Stephen Samuel knew the pre-Comic Con India event would hyper-boost his chances at the main event, scheduled from April 3 to 5. So did the other winners, as the finals beckoned.
True to the gamers’ profile seen across the City, the tournament had participants ranging from teenagers to 40-year-olds. Just out of his 10th class, Mehdi Shayek was one of them, lending his live-wire brain waves to his team, E-Gods.
Balancing act
But to be in that gaming hotseat, he had a delicate balancing act to perfect. He explained, “It is pretty tough convincing my parents that this is my choice. I have to secretly practise in cyber cafes.”
Mehdi, Stephen and the whole bunch of gamers knew they had no choice but to keep playing, despite the odds. For, they would one day be potential superstars as the e-sportsmen of South Korea and China are now today. “There are even colleges in the United States that offer scholarships and sports person visas for gamers. The gaming industry is set to grow big time here,” said a top contestant.
For the gaming cafe CEO Arvind Ananth, the fast-paced evolution in gaming platforms and the hyper-dynamic mobile games would hasten the growth. “Bengaluru is already seeing this trend. Youngsters, many in their teens, are seeing the professional side of e-sports and getting actively interested. In any case, this is far better than just hanging out in pubs.”