Raunak Sen, Balaji Ramnarayan, Omkar Urunkar, Dhvanit Negi and Moin Ejaz spend at least eight hours a day playing Dota 2, an online multiplayer video game where teams battle one another to defend their bases. It’s no hobby — the 20-somethings, who call themselves Team Signify and play as a ‘clan’, get a monthly stipend from a gaming company that covers their expenses, as well as giving them 70% of the prize money they win in competitions.
Professional gaming has turned into a career in India with players of online video games forming teams that are employed on a regular salary by corporates.
They take part in national and international competitions where the earnings in prize money can range from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh-plus per tournament. The total prize money pool announced for various domestic tournaments in the first four months of this year has already crossed Rs 3.5 crore.
Team Signify lives together in a house in Mumbai’s Andheri paid for by e-sports company Cobx Gaming, and spends almost every waking moment together practising. Cobx pays the team about Rs 75,000 a month.
[“Source-timesofindia”]
