While the New Education Policy (NEP) has attracted both praise and censure, one of the measures therein seems to have met with universal approval. The Union Education Ministry is offering considerable support behind online gaming. This new focus is an attempt by the Ministry to generate employment opportunities in the digital field.
The Ministry also confirmed that they will be organising a national level hackathon for ‘online games’ to showcase the talents of Indian students from higher educational institutions. Indeed, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that the segment has “huge potential in this area, and should lead the international digital gaming sector.”
With the rapidly growing number of gamers logging on from all corners of the country, and the expansion of domestic players/ businesses and Made in India games, industry insiders are elated at the news.
Abhishek Kumar, Regional Director, Onvu Learning, an online teaching platform, said, “Online gaming courses shall generate huge employment opportunities for our students. The challenge for the government shall be in imparting skill sets in specific computer languages and multimedia technology, though with proper training our students have the potential to leverage it and change the landscape of the online gaming industry. The recent decision of the Education Ministry in organising a Hackathon on Online Games shall also help bring out the talent in our country.”
Sudhanshu Gupta, COO, Paytm First Games chimed in, “We welcome the Education Ministry’s plan to support students aspiring to pursue online gaming and developing as a viable career choice. The government’s support would give this industry a much-needed boost and make it easier for us to find and recruit apt talent. We believe India can become the hub of online gaming in the world if given the right opportunities and the chance to grow. We fully endorse the government’s initiative and would help to take this further in every possible way.”
Apart from the attractive daily cash prizes in games such as Poker, Teen Patti, Rummy, Cricket and others, there are regular national and international- level league games and tournaments in which victory can bring sustained financial security apart from acclaim and opportunities to travel and build networks.
Indeed, some gaming companies have already created stables or camps, to follow the lingo, of talented young players, hailing from all over the country, and who, live, train, and represent their organizations in teams together at tournaments around the world.
“Millennials these days are showing more interest in real-money gaming, than any other forms of games. Not just for fun but to make more money by earning passively. Making money always requires some level of hard work on one’s part. What’s great about passive income is that one earns in a way that calls for less structure than a regular 9-to-5 job. And with time, what you earn can add up to your existing savings. Forget millennials, it does not matter the stage of life you are in, creating streams of passive income is always a smart way to make your money work for you,” said Varun Mahna, CEO and Founder, PokerDangal, adding, “I am saying this because we have players on our platform between the ages 18 and 35 on an average and we have also seen a major increase in the number of female players. So, online gaming is actually helping people enjoy a combination of entertainment and money.”
In a nutshell
The Ministry confirmed g a national level hackathon for ‘online games’ will be organised to showcase the talents of Indian students from higher educational institutions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the segment has “huge potential in this area, and should lead the international digital gaming sector.”