Of late, the Indian gaming scene has undergone many a drastic changes, so much so that the landscape is almost unrecognisable. While the DoTA 2 fans and players are celebrating the rise of a new professional outfit in the form of Team Sgnify, players and fans of Counter Strike Global Offensive have something much more colossal to celebrate. After months of talks and negotiations, CS:GO is ready to enter the mainstream entertainment sphere of Indian Television! That’s right, a computer game will be telecast on to your idiot box daily at 2:30 p.m. IST on the new channel started by the Discovery network called DSports. The telecast will feature the top teams in the ESL India Master’s division duke it out for the top spot.
Getting a TV spot has the potential to be huge for CS:GO and in turn for eSports in India as the traditionally internet centric sport now has the chance to reach a much wider and older audience via the medium of television. You as aspiring gamers will now finally be able to show your parents with relative ease what it is you are striving for and for them to get a chance to see kids playing on television might trigger the much needed catalytic change of acceptance and encouragement that many Indian gamers seek from their parents.
There are, however, certain concerns that inevitably revolve around an eSport being featured on such a mainstream platform. TV, historically has been a completely advertisement run platform and because of that certain changes have had to be made that really interfere and annihilate the sanctity of the sport. Now, while on TV the players are forced to take a break every 5 rounds as the ads roll and the analyst desk is brought in. Its far from ideal and messes with the flow of the game. Unfortunately, it’s the price eSports must pay for exposure at this stage.
At the end of the day, it’s amazing to see eSports being broadcast on the telly and potentially reaching a much wider audience, however, we as a community have to demand that the game itself isn’t compromised for the platform of transmission in any way, shape or form.
