CHENNAI: Anurag Ravela, at first sight, may come across as a regular 15-year-old student from Delhi Public School in Hyderabad. He is busy with classes, assignments, activities and he has to devote some hours to these academic requirements, not to mention outings with friends and families. But come weekend, he dons the avatar of a hardcore gamer who’s on the prowl to win every game he plays. “I make sure to play for 10 hours during weekends,” he says.
He believes that gaming can become a fetching profession if one works hard. “Ten years ago, nobody considered it a career. But with new gaming leagues and sponsors, the scene has changed.” The possible success in a game fuels such dreams.
Anurag aspires to be a full-time gamer. He used to play different games in his school and gradually shifted to electronic sports. He initially played games like NSS Most Wanted and Counter Strike Source. In 2013, his sister introduced him to Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). “I didn’t know that gaming would be my career until I played CS:GO. My parents were not supportive in the beginning.
When I began to achieve higher levels in CS:GO, they started supporting me. It feels like the struggle was worth it,” he says. He has all the necessary equipment for gaming like high end keyboard and mouse at home.
He believes that ranks are important to show one’s skill. “After one-and-a-half-year of practice I achieved the Legendary Eagle Master rank, one of the highest levels in the game, when I was 12 years old,” says Anurag, who is known as ‘Five Stars’ in the virtual world. He was determined from class 5 that he will play various International eSports tournaments scheduled for the coming years, which have multi-million dollar prize pools.
He has learned values like coordination, cooperation, communication skills, organising, planning and focus through gaming.
“Electronic sports is not only gaining popularity but also developing into a massive industry. Professional competitive gaming has a major lack of sponsorships especially for teenage gamers. I believe that the gaming industry should be given importance and boot camps, financial support, expert team managers and equipment must be provided for freshers as well as pro gamers. This will help players fit into teams or build their own,” he says.