American gaming technology company Nvidia has spotted gold in improved data connectivity in India and increasing popularity of online gaming among the young Indian gamers, who, according to the company officials, are rapidly turning to become eSport persons than being merely a casual gamer.

Nvidia is also looking to create a gaming community in India by tying up with gaming cafés and offering them certification programmes, as well as it has created a GeForce club, where gamers from across the country participate for gaming tournament.

Speaking to BusinessLine, Vamsi Krishna, Head — Consumer Marketing for South Asia at Nvidia, mentioned that the number of eSports players is increasing at a rapid pace with youth getting more inclined towards serious online sports than remaining a casual gamer.

“The number of active eSports users has increased from 300,000 per month in 2014 to 1.5 million this year. This shows five times growth in the past three years,” said Krishna, adding that eSports attracts mostly the youth from the age group of below 24 years.

Nvidia has organised a GamerConnect event in Ahmedabad on June 25 — second in the five-edition event. The first such event was held in Kolkata in April this year.

At the event, captains of gaming industry will interact with young users and showcase the new technology breakthrough in the gaming industry. Over 1,000 gamers across the country are likely to participate in the event and get first-hand experience on the latest gaming technologies across the world including Virtual Reality.

According to Krishna, the growth drivers for eSports will be the social connect of the youth through internet. “By being on social platforms, they exchange a lot of information exchange. This way the consumers get aware. Also, brands like Nvidia are helping create desire about such sports in the country.”

eSports is a sub-section of the gaming audience, which is considered as influencers and use maximum time on gaming.

The differentiating factor between eSport gamers and casual gamers is that an eSport gamer would spend about 99 per cent of his gaming life on one particular game and try to compete and win. Casual gamer, on the other hand, plays more for fun and spends less time on one particular game.