It was not long ago when Sumail Hassan made history for Pakistan to win 3.6 billion dollars in the sports event, he now stands as one of the richest gamers in the history of the sport. Not long after someone other than Sumail went on from the unknown to represent our nation in a Tekken tournament in Japan, that person’s name was Arslan Siddique “AKA” Arslan Ash. This person came from the unknown and took the gaming world of Tekken by storm defeating the top representative from Japan, Korea, USA, and among other ranked players, and this is just what I call an underdog story usually seen in Movies or T.V Dramas. But this person made it into reality and shocked the world with this term “Pakistani Esports Gamer just marked a history”.
Contents
What is an E-sports?
This type of sports is based on video games. It can be any consoles whether it is on the computer, play station, Xbox, etc. the field is provided through the digital system and global networks of computers. Millions of players gather around and interact with each other through virtual and online media whether if it’s offline and online people compete with each other through various games like “DOTA,” Tekken”, “Dragon Ball Fighter Z”, “Streetfighters”, “PUBG” and among many others. It has a huge fan following and has transformed into one of the most rising growing industry in the world today, the gaming industry worth $1.38 billion in 2021 records.
This shows that it has grasped the world and showed why the medium is important as it has risen exponentially throughout the years. This has given the rise to so many tournaments which have legit prize money of billion and millions of dollars prize money, the event it has a rumor that it will be a part of the Olympics because of the popularity of the medium.
Hurdles in Pakistan:
There is a rise of E-sports in Pakistan with the games like “PUBG” and “Free Fire”, where the majority of the people took up consoles and play them online. The lockdown and pandemic accelerated the rise of E-sports even further as the majority of people who have more free time played online games where it has become a pastime. The lockdown and video game go on hand to hand as the online medium has become the gateway for many Pakistanis where they are exploring the new medium of an art form, whether it is “PlayStation or an “XBOX gaming is for everyone, so why it has hurdles:
Are Video games “Expensive” in Pakistan?
Video games are expensive from graphic cards to building a ‘PC” or buying a “PS”. It is hard for an average player to play a game or to even buy one, because of the inflation problem over here in Pakistan, not everyone has a privilege to buy consoles. Even mobiles have become expensive for the time being, the older models have difficulty catching up with the latest game developments.
Stereotypes exist in Game Industry of Pakistan?
Have you heard of a phrase? That video games are for kids, “only geeks and nerds play games” or any other remarks. The problem is that the medium has become acceptable for all the demographics and all types of people, quite simply putting the nerd culture has evolved into a phenomenon and in short video games are for everyone.
Because of the stereotype we don’t take this seriously and considered it as kid stuff or time-wasting, people in Pakistan do not give importance to the popular medium and it is the reason that our organizations don’t invest in it.
People would not like to Investment in E-sports
Speaking of investment, the main hurdle in our country is the lack of investment from our public and private sectors. People are not taking the rising popularity of E-sports, even with the increasing amount of players in our Nation, they just don’t want to take the risk.
Even Saudi Arabs are investing in the medium, they know the importance of E-sports and how can it improve the infrastructure of the nation. Some of the companies like “Telenor” and “Zong” are investing in E-sports but it is a long shot.
Internet boom for RPG’s and MMO’s
The internet issues still plagued the world of “E-sports” to this day, with the decrease in ping and speed issues the multiplayer realm is that confusing and frustrating. The Internet plays a big part in E-sports if you don’t have good connections you cannot afford to play the games and you will be frustrated, that you are in the game and suddenly the connection drops, you lost. The lack of high-speed internet, damaged infrastructure, and lack of Government support are the main hurdles for E-sports.
Future and Conclusion:
Despite all the hurdles that E-sports have to face there is a silver lining to all of this, the video games trend is still on the rise to become one of the most prominent figures in our Nation. With these trends’ awareness of E-sports increasing among the youth and adults alike. In my opinion video games are for everyone and for every age group can enjoy games. Thanks to pandemic and lockdown in special case scenario that the video games have become the gateway of entertainment. With the IT minister of Pakistan, Fawad Chaudhry has declared it to be the official sports of the country, there is hope for success in future. Undoubtedly Pakistan’s game Industry will soon boom in Pakistan due to the different sponsors like Dew and Telenor are backing up this project along with media personalities like Junaid Akram, Waqar Zaka, Mooro, and among many others we will have a bright future for the sport.
