Esports is a new and flourishing branch of sports which is growing immensely on a global level. It was already very popular in North America, Japan, China, South Korea, UK and other European countries but now, Southeast Asian
countries, including India are paving their way in the world of Esports.
There are many organisations/start-ups leading the charge on this front in India and IR Esports is one of them.
Before jumping into the exuberance of IR Esports let us explore what Esports are in general.
In a nutshell the field of competitive, organised video gaming is referred to as Esports. In popular at-home games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Madden NFL, players from different leagues or teams compete against each other. Millions of fans watch and follow these gamers from all around the world, whether they attend live events or watch them on TV or online. Viewers may watch their favourite gamers play in real time on streaming platforms like Twitch, Youtube etc and this is often where popular players grow their fan bases.
IR Esports has been a pioneer in the Motorsports/Racing related esports in India. They have grown to become one of the largest esports organisers in India, carving out a space for themselves in the industry with competitions such as the Indian E-Racing Championship, Mumbai’s Fastest Gamer, the Volkswagen Virtual Racing Championship, Rev-it by Formula Bharat etc
IR Esports has a prodigious team of individuals. From the founder Rayomand Banajee, the CEO Saurav Bandyopadhyay and the rest of the team which comprises of Firoz Mehta (Head of esports operations), Gaurav Mohadikar (Event and esports operations manager), Shreevar Jhunjhunwala (Partnerships and Business development), Tanuj Nalawade (esports Operation executive), Pratham Pandey (Social Media Manager) and Vishal Mark Stephens (Head of Graphics & Web Design).
IR Esports specialises in the following domains :
- Organising online gaming competitions on Racing games.
- Executing customised gaming projects for brands.
- Organising offline gaming competitions at gaming events , colleges etc.
- Building racing simulatorsTraining and managing esports athletes.
- Making NFT collections for Brands
- IR eSports has successfully conducted some noteworthy projects such as:
IR eSports has successfully conducted some noteworthy projects such as:
- The Indian E-Racing Championship : India’s premier E-Racing Series.
- Volkswagen Virtual Racing Championship : Project for Volkswagen India. Over 4,500 registrations were receive
Recently Hyundai Motor Company launched the Global League of Hyundai N e-Festival, a digital motorsport competition where players will vie for the top spot in an exciting virtual reality (VR) gaming environment.
IR Esports Athletes, Aditya Patnaik & Veer Sheth have qualified 1st and 2nd in the India selections for the Hyundai N E-Festival Global League
The event’s qualifying rounds were held on the IRacing VR-simulation platform from January 24 to February 14, with players from 13 countries competing, with two top players from each country qualifying. Now, all 30 players will compete in ten rounds, which will be broadcast live on RaceSpot Tv from March 6 to May 1st, 2022. You’re probably interested in learning more about two drivers, Aditya Patnaik and Veer Sheth, and how they went from IR Esports tournaments to the Hyundai esports championship.
Let’s discuss the two stars of IR Esports that have qualified in the Hyundai N E-Festival and have attained Significant progress, Aditya Patnaik and Veer Sheth.
Aditya Patnaik:
He is a young and mindful 17 year old formula enthusiast who attains a dream to become a formula 1 driver one day, He lives in mumbai and is currently pursuing his Higher Secondary Education.
In his own words Aditya described his journey on becoming an ESports athlete “Since I can remember I’ve always wanted to be a racing driver, and all my life I’ve tried to find every small opportunity to get closer to that dream. But unfortunately, I was not able to pursue that dream for a long amount of time due to the sport not being very well known in India.
In 2017, my parents bought me a set of simulator racing wheel and pedals for my birthday and I was absolutely hooked. But I still didn’t see that leading to me getting anywhere close to my dream. But, after a year of driving on my own with no purpose, I realized that I could try and take part in online competitions. From my first race, I started performing way better than me or anyone else thought I would. And I started winning, so since 2019, I am a professional sim racing driver who’s been lucky enough to win and take part in some incredible competitions with some incredible drivers.
All this was fun, but I still felt that my dream of becoming a racing driver was far away, until I came to know of this new go karting track that had opened up near me, Ajmera Indikarting. I started going there regularly, but just for leisure. But after taking part in some amateur competitions, I was finally able to convince my parents to let me take up motorsport as a career. And I am incredibly grateful to them that they allowed me to pursue my dream. Since then, I have scored multiple podiums and wins in karting on multiple different levels and I am now preparing to take part in the Rotax Max National Karting Championship which is one of the biggest championships in India. I am extremely happy and excited that I am finally getting to live my dream life, and hope to now ensure that I can be the best on track.”
You can know more about Aditya Patnaik on the below given social media links:
Instagram: @aditya_patnaik_
Twitter: @plsnopunterino
YouTube: Aditya Patnaik Racing
Veer Sheth:
Veer Sheth, the other player that qualified for the Hyundai esports event, is even younger and is doing wonders in such an early stage of his life. He is 15 years old and is currently studying at DY Patil International School. He began his Karting career at the age of 9, from there he kept on building his legacy and now he is one of the best Indian Esports athletes. Among these his major achievements include a fourth-place result in the Indian E-Racing Championship, as well as other podium finishes. In his inaugural season of the Rotax Max Indian National Karting Championship, he also finished second twice, the highest position for a rookie. He comes from a family of automobile and motorcycle traders (Honda and VW as well as a Mercedes service center). These two players, Veer and Aditya, are being regarded as the next big thing in the Esports racing circuit, and IR Esports deserves credit for giving them opportunities.
You can know more about Veer Sheth on the below given social media links:
Social: Instagram: @veershethofficial
Twitter: @VeerSheth1
Facebook: @VeerSheth
Esports have a lot of potential and a huge market to grow amongst the Indian environment. It fits the Indian appetite to consume new modes of entertainment and also to adapt a new skill to learn for the impressionable youth of India which teaches us that the orthodox learning techniques are no longer mandatory.