A recent GST council meeting, as some would say, put the final nail in the real money gaming sector for a while with a 28% GST rate on full face value. Although the tax is levied on the initial deposits by players, so already-established firms may be able to survive.
Co-founder of brokerage firm Zerodha, Nikhil Kamath, have a positive opinion on the gaming industry. In one of his recent tweets, Kamath says that in the upcoming decade, esports might be a sound opportunity to invest towards.
Interactive may be the form of content that works in the coming decade. #Esports may be the opportunity to invest in, not IPL teams/cricket, which cost as much as EPL football clubs today. In my limited experience, the younger gen. is less enamoured by cricket than my gen. was. pic.twitter.com/13AtdMOjOX
— Nikhil Kamath (@nikhilkamathcio) August 8, 2023
This is due to the fact that the gaming industry worldwide has over doubled the valuation of the movie and music industries combined. Kamath also talks about how the younger generation is mainly interested in video games rather than cricket.
The statement might have a lot of depth in it as it is true that the younger generation crave a bit more action. While the real money gaming industry might not be completely destroyed, it certainly took a heavy blow.
However, it gives an opportunity to the esports and video game sector to grow as the tax rate on them is unaffected, and there are a lot of young blood looking to make a name both for themselves and the country.
Founder & CEO of Rooter, Piyush Kumar, also agreed with Kamath saying the esports and creators scene in the video game industry in India is just getting started. Rooter is also streaming the second season of the BGMI Masters Series (BGMS) online along with Star Sports, which shows the rising popularity of esports.
BGMS itself is being hosted by NODWIN gaming, a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies that mainly focuses on the esports sector in India and has hosted a variety of tournaments. Nazara Tech CEO Nitish Mittersain also appreciated Kamath’s work in bringing up the topic and pointing out the rapid growth of the sector.