Free Fire's return expected to spark 30% growth in Indian esports: Experts

Esports players, gaming content creators and esports industry are betting big on Free Fire India

Free Fire, one of the biggest esports games, is re-entering India, and experts predict that this move will contribute to over 30 percent growth in the esports market in India.

The return of the title is expected to lead to competition between publishers to create top-class tournaments, offer big winnings, engage influencers, deepen the viewership base, and impact the overall esports industry, ultimately leading to double-digit growth in the esports space, according to Abhishek Issar, Founder of UNIV Sportatech, a strategy and consulting firm.

The revenue of the esports industry grew from Rs 1,000 crore in 2021 to Rs 1,100 crore in 2022.

Stan, an esports fan engagement startup that has collaborated with over 100 Free Fire creators in the past, plans to host more intellectual properties (IPs) for the Free Fire audience.

Rohit Agarwal, Founder and director of Alpha Zegus, a marketing agency, emphasized that the return of Free Fire to India is the biggest headline for the industry at the moment. He noted, "The audience base for Free Fire remains one of the biggest in India. Before the ban, numbers suggested that Free Fire had a bigger audience base than any gaming title in India."

In June 2023, Free Fire was the most downloaded mobile game globally, with nearly 19 million downloads. India accounted for 27.9 percent of the total downloads during this period, according to data from Sensor Tower, a market research company.

Rohit Agarwal added, "If we are able to recover about 70 percent of that audience base (the audience base before the ban in India), the game will take no time to start breaking viewership records and compete for head-on with other popular titles."

Despite the absence of Indian teams at the Free Fire World Series 2022 Grand Finals, the Hindi stream recorded peak viewership, as noted by Devam Vyas, Vice President of Gods Reign, an esports organization. Vyas stated, "As Free Fire restarts in India, we're expecting viewership to break new records."

The impact of Free Fire's return is not limited to esports competitions. It is also expected to significantly benefit the creator community. Animesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of 8Bit Creatives, an esports consulting and talent agency, and co-founder of S8UL, an esports team, explained, "Free Fire India will help creators grow and expand their fanbase. As the game gains renewed attention and engagement, there will also be an influx of interest as well as investments from brands into the ecosystem."

Nayan Shelke, known as Assasin, one of the top content creators in the Free Fire India gaming community, expects a significant increase in his YouTube channel's subscriber base and income. Shelke runs a YouTube channel called Assasin Army with over 9.5 million subscribers.

Shelke noted, "Free Fire India's launch was very important, as for us, this is our career." He also mentioned that immediately after the Free Fire ban, he saw higher engagement for his videos, with views doubling from one million to two million, as people came to his channel to know what had happened to the game.

However, he saw a dip later. "It took me two months to increase to seven million subscribers from six million. But to reach eight million subscribers, it took me 10 months. In the last two months, because of the hype around Free Fire India, my channel saw growth of 1-1.5 million subscribers, reaching 9.5 million subscribers. I also expect a 2x growth in my earnings from Free Fire India."

Another content creator in the gaming space, Bharat, known as Badge 99, expects newer gamers to enter the esports space. He stated, "The launch of Free Fire India will give more opportunities to players as well as content creators, with a higher number of tournaments and a newer audience base." He anticipates that brands will approach them after the announcement of Free Fire India's launch.

Regarding user growth, India currently has over 1 million esports players, and this number is expected to grow with the relaunch of Free Fire, as the game is best suited for low-end Android devices, according to Manish Agarwal, Founder of Kratos Studios.

"The best part about Free Fire is that it is optimized to work well on low-end devices, which ensures that it has a very broad user base," added Ashwin Suresh, Founder of Loco, an esports platform.

Lokesh Suji, Director of the Esports Federation of India and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), said that the re-entry of Free Fire brings promise for players across India, amplifying the competitive spirit and paving the way for recognition and opportunities on a global scale for Indian esports players.