New Delhi [India] April 2 (ANI): India Esports Player Animesh Agrawal has spoken about his meeting and conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Indian gaming and e-sports in India. Agrawal believes that the conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Indian gaming and e-sports has shifted the national perception of the industry.

The e-sports conclave further legitimizes gaming and e-sports in India. With e-sports medal events coming up, Agrawal emphasized the need to take gaming seriously and shape its future in India.

'It's been a year and I think it's first April, so yes, almost been a year since we met him and the conversations are all on social media, the conversations went out in the form of video, but it was good to discuss with him about the, you know, about e-sports, about gaming. He had a very keen interest on Indian game development, Indian game development scene and games that can come out, talking about Indian culture, Indian societal values, etc. Post that conversation, definitely the mood of the nation has definitely changed about how people perceive gaming and e-sports and obviously events like this, events like the e-sports conclave that's supported by PEFI in West India, and we have such representatives from the sports ministry and other government bodies, I think it definitely legitimates how people in India are now looking at gaming and e-sports, with e-sports medal events coming up in the following years, definitely gaming has to be taken up seriously in India and this is one of the prime examples of how we are shaping our future.' Animesh Agrawal told ANI.

Set to take place in Riyadh later this year, the Esports World Cup 2025 is shaping up to be the biggest esports event in history. With an unprecedented prize pool and a stacked lineup of global teams, the tournament promises to be legendary. Last year's edition saw over 1,500 players from 200 teams competing for a jaw-dropping 60 million USD (Rs 500 crore) prize pool, attracting a global audience of 500 million viewers- including 10.5 million viewers from India.

The Esports World Cup 2025 will feature a diverse lineup of top-tier competitive titles across multiple genres. A total of 23 popular titles have been confirmed so far, including Chess, VALORANT, Counter-Strike 2, Honor of Kings, DOTA 2, EAFC 25, League of Legends, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and many more.

Agrawal believed India's e-sports scene is still developing and lacks skilled players across various titles. He acknowledged that while India excels in a few games, achieving podium finishes in all medal events at the Olympics is a distant dream. However, Agrawal emphasizes the need to start building talent now, considering the recurring nature of e-sports at the Olympics. He highlights the industry's efforts to cultivate domestic talent and elevate India's e-sports presence on a global scale.

'Definitely, I think it becomes more difficult for us, like I have always said, Indian e-sports scene is still growing, there is always a lack of skilled players across different titles, gaming is a huge industry with multiple titles and India has always been, I would say somehow been masters of few, so even if I say few, it could be one or two, so if you talk about all medal events, it's easier said than done, it could be easy to represent, but to be able to get this podium finishes for it is, like I would say, it's a very far distant dream, but if we don't start building today, I think Olympics, e-sports are going to happen again and again on a concurrent basis, we need to plan for the future and I think the industry is trying to move towards that direction, where we try and grow more of domestic talent to be able to take Indian e-sports industry or take Indian e-sports flag to the higher level,' he added. (ANI)