CHENNAI: Chennai-based gaming enthusiast Santhosh Praveen’s story about his love for gaming is one of patience and perseverance. “Like with most other Indian gamers, my parents didn’t understand my craze for gaming. They thought it was a waste of time. But for me, it was a whole different world that I couldn’t live in real life,” says the 22-year-old.
It was in Class 5 that Santhosh first discovered Project IGI and GTA at his friend’s place. He grew up playing Super Mario, Farcry, Battlefield, WatchDogs, Mafia 2, BurnOut, Need For Speed, Tombraider, Red Dead Redemption, but only a few of these games have stayed with him. His more recent favourites include Age of Empire and God of War.
“What I instantly get hooked to are great storylines and characters with real human emotions — like Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, which is my favourite,” he shares. Santhosh’s father was worried about his son’s gaming addiction as he didn’t think that gaming could also be a career option. Fearing his father, Santhosh would hide some of the game chips, and then sneak them out whenever he needed to play.
In 2012, Santhosh became a part of Entity Gaming, a professional Dota 2 team. He says, “Besides my father’s worry, I also needed to clear my self-doubts. I started talking to a professional gamer on Facebook who pushed me to pursue my passion for gaming. Later, during my college days when I won a gameathon with a cash prize, my father was more accepting of it.”
Following this gameathon event for Counter-strike (CS) at Anna University, Santhosh went on to bag the ROG title master, became a part of the Phoenix team in CS, won 26 symposiums, and was awarded the first place in National NMedia Championship in Delhi. “True, there is no career for gamers in India. Gamers aren’t respected, and to make things worse, we are thought of as aggressive. That’s why I wait for the day when I can leave the country,” he says.
Today, Santhosh is a gamer by day, a DJ by night, and he loves his food and sleep. His mantra to keep his passion alive? “Keep trying, manage time and all other resources well, and most importantly, keep a close eye on other gamers and analyse their tactics.”