Indian Gaming Industry now wants a clear distinction from real money games

The Indian Gaming Industry has long been stuck in a huge debate among themselves for quite some time regarding real money games. For the longest time, real money games like fantasy gaming, poker and other card games are termed‘ online games’ which are also used for regular online video games on mobile or PC.

Acting on this, video games and esports companies recently wrote to the government for a clear distinction between video games/esports and real money gaming. In a letter to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and PMO, dozens of gaming companies urged the government to resolve this issue.

“The Indian Video Games Industry has requested the newly formed Indian government to break the existing categorisation of online games into two separate categories — video games and real money games, for fair and equitable policymaking,” the companies said.

The main reason behind this is separating the games that might cause financial distress to people who are not aware of the difference. It can be argued that even casual games played online can cause financial harm, but the whole gimmick of casual gaming is that people play it for fun and get no financial benefit even after spending money, while real money games are played to earn profit.

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Esports sector wants a push and recognition

Most recently, the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) also clarified that even esports also have a distinction from regular online gaming. The Director of ESFI, Lokesh Suji said that fantasy gaming, gambling or event casual online games do not constitute esports.

The statement by ESFI does press on the fact that while esports may come under online games, the same isn’t true for casual games that require the internet. While they also have a point, the most important thing as of now is to separate the gaming industry from the real money gaming industry. With all this going on, the government has yet to make a conclusive decision on the matter.