Game on

Taking a cue from the hugely successful Comic Con India, the gaming industry in the country has set its eyes on claiming its own place in Mumbai’s cultural calendar with the maiden edition of the IGX Expo, which is taking place this weekend. With popular titles, tournaments and more lined up in its two-day itinerary, the expo — not the first, but reportedly the biggest of its kind — aims to establish a physical presence for the vibrant online gaming community in the country.

Although the dearth of any big new launches (which have become so identified with the term ‘expos’) has left some avid gamers disappointed, the general mood seems to be one of excitement, as fans from different parts of the country are coming in to Mumbai — with their game faces on. In fact, the consensus among gaming enthusiasts seems to be that the expo will address the lack of any such major convention for the community so far.

Says Anand Khemani, whose company E-Xpress Interactive is co-sponsoring the event, “Take any place which has a sizeable gaming market and you’d find such expos there. And in that sense, Mumbai is the most matured market for gaming in the country, which is why we thought it deserved one.” Affirming that the aim is to emulate a phenomenon like Comic Con, Anand says, “When it (Comic Con India) was started, it was catering to a significantly smaller audience. But today it is a big phenomenon. In a similar fashion, we want to communicate with the consumers of the gaming industry and that is where organising an expo helps.”

The titles to be presented at the expo include hugely popular international franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, WWE and Mortal Kombat. Also lined up for exhibition is the recently released Uncharted 4. While such brands do lend to the success of the expo, a matter of disappointment for a number of gamers is that there are no exclusive launches scheduled. Speaking to us about the expo, gaming expert Ishaan Arya says, “This event will be at par with Bengaluru’s Video Game Fest, which is consumer-oriented with stalls, games and cosplay events. It has a similar format to the international expos where there are gaming previews, tournaments and roadmaps from organisations about the upcoming games. This event too is trying to replicate the international formula. But my problem is that the games that are featured here have already been released internationally. So this will only interest those who haven’t tried these games as yet. This is unlike the international format, where gamers get a fix of upcoming releases in the next six weeks to six months.”

However, while some feel that the IGX Expo might not pack the promised punch, the event has a certain symbolic significance, adds a Hyderabad-based gamer Krishna, who is heading to Mumbai only for the expo. “The online presence of the gaming community, especially in E-sports, is overwhelmingly huge. This is especially so for games such as Dota (Defence of the Ancient) and Counter Strike, which every other youngster in the country is playing. And yet, the gaming ‘industry’ as such in the country is still very nascent. It needs more room to breathe, which is something expos such as this provide. Only a few years ago, a similar expo planned in Delhi ended up becoming a huge mess. It invited international players and defaulted on the prizes promised. It left a dent in the gaming industry. But this time the organisers seem more mainstream and new releases or not, I am sincerely hoping for the sake of the gaming community that it does indeed become successful.”

While new releases and previews are one side, another important aspect of the expo are the tournaments, which according to Anand have gotten a much better response than expected. “Major highlights of the expo are the two parallel tournaments for WWE 2K16 and Mortal Kombat, which will have a cumulative purse of Rs 1.5 lakhs each. We had set up 24 consoles at the Expo and were expecting a registration of around 200 people. But I was informed today that even as of now, the registrations online have shot well beyond 900. If there are so many registrations, we are expecting exponentially higher footfalls and a large chunk always come to watch the games alone.”

Echoing this sentiment, Ishaan adds, “The WWE 2K16 Championship is something I expect will be of much interest to gamers. Gaming organisers are finally investing, and realising the potential for gaming in the country. The structure for e-sports tournaments may not be professional, but it is good enough.” Another major element in the Expo will be the showcasing of several new high end gaming gears, which Krishna says are reason enough to be excited. “The virtual reality headsets released by Absentia are something to look out for. There are a few other major players such as the Oculus Rift and Sony’s Morpheus VR, but it’ll be great to see what this will be provide.”

Telling us about what the expo aims to do in the gaming industry, Avkash Joshi, who is the organiser of the event, says, “India, in general is comfortable in consuming western content, be it in films, literature or even games for that matter. We do have extremely talented individuals making new games, but we are still young and this is a step in the right direction for the industry.”

Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon on November 14-15 Entry: Free