Mobile game publishing company Nazara Games has today announced the launch of an esports league in India.

Nazara Games plans to invest approximately $20m (£16m) to develop the Indian esports ecosystem over the next 5 years. The esports venture will be a new company which will be fully owned by a subsidiary company of Nazara Technologies Pvt Ltd.

The aim is to build a ‘vibrant and all-encompassing ecosystem for esports in India’, with a longer term goal of establishing Indian esports teams which can challenge in the top tier competitions globally across the main titles.

Nitish Mittersain, Founder & MD, Nazara Games stated: “Esports has become a cultural phenomenon in the last few years. Countries in Europe, Korea, China and US have seen massive growth in the number of players and spectators. Asia-Pacific accounts for 44% of the audience and is the fastest growing region globally. Given, improving internet connectivity in India today, launching an esports league seemed the perfect way to reach out to the large group of esports enthusiasts in India.”

Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Games added: “We are excited to provide Indian eSports enthusiasts with a solid and player/community orientated esports ecosystem, in which players can thrive, improve their skills and become top competitors at an international level. The esports league will not only be great for Indian players but also for fans. This platform will provide very extensive and exciting coverage of the Indian esports landscape and will allow fans to track the careers and professional achievements of their esport idols on a daily basis.”

The league will provide Indian esports fans with live content, guides, forums, online tournaments and extensive coverage of the esports scene.

The league will have two seasons per year and will feature six teams that will be selected through ‘open and free online qualifier tournaments’. It will initially include the major titles Dota 2 and CS:GO with others to be announced shortly. All players and teams from India are welcome to join this qualification process by following the online registration once the website has launched.

Esports Insider says: Absolutely huge investments flying into esports this week with the value of this and the one by Strongbow Investments Group totalling over $42m. This is fantastic news for any esports fans in India who are yet to have been able to enjoy much in the way of any strong and consistent leagues or tournaments locally.