THE IPL OF VIDEO GAMES
With Esports growing all over the world it was only a matter of time before someone realised a country with a population of over a billion people cannot be ignored. The Indian Gaming League is going to do just that by setting up an IPL-style league for video games.
Founded by brothers Yash Pariani (23) and Krish Galiani(20), the Indian Gaming League is looking to fill the gap for regular online and offline Esports events.
Partnered with professional esports organisers, Major League Gaming from the US, most of IGL’s activity will take place online where gamers and teams will compete in daily and weekly events to accumulate ‘pro points’. Towards the middle of May, the top teams will compete in a qualifier from where the Final 8 will take part in the inaugural league. Each team will be signed by one of eight city franchises. The idea behind the franchises is to help legitimise Esports and make gaming a viable career option with standard salaries of `15,000 to `20,000 per month.
While most of the franchise owners are still anonymous, IGL did reveal one Bollywood star who was interested in acquiring a franchise. “We have a bunch of celebrities and influential investors that are going to be purchasing/owning teams, one owner that we have officially announced is Sanjay Kapoor (younger brother of producer Boney Kapoor) who is interested in the Chennai FIFA Team” said Krish Galiani.
While the top 8 teams will compete in the final league, others can still take part in the various online and offline events to accumulate more ‘pro points’ to make it to an ‘amateur league’ before eventually getting a shot at the top teams. IGL has also partnered with various gaming cafes around the country for an offline presence and also has weekly and monthly FIFA events in Mumbai. What IGL brings to India is much more than just an online platform for regular tournaments and rankings, it gives us a proper segregation of players and organisers, giving both enough room to concentrate on just their jobs. The online amateur league should also help give smaller teams across the country a lot of experience with regular competition within the country.
Esports has definitely had its ups and downs in India with a few high profile events running into contro- versy over unpaid prize money, poor organization and ‘scams’. So when you look at IGL and its two young founders it might seem a bit over ambitious. Co-Founder Krish Galiani has been a part of the Esports scene in the USA with his teams (Smite, Call of Duty, Halo) regularly competing in pro leagues so he might in fact bring a certain amount of professionalism to Indian Esports.
To start off, IGL has of course targeted major games like FIFA, Counter Strike and Dota 2. However, they have also included the likes of League of Legends and Halo along with mobile games like Fun Run2, 8 Ball Pool and Angry Birds to widen the scope beyond the Big Three. IGL has already started their online events and hopes to grow steadily over the course of the next few months and franchise announcements being planned for May. They are definitely in it for the long run with the sole purpose of getting Esports in India finally on track.
Each team will be signed by one of eight city franchises. The idea behind the franchises is to help legitimise Esports