Andhra Pradesh government to ban fantasy and online game to counter online gaming in the state. The Lines lines between esports, online competitive gaming and fantasy games have been blurred in India, causing confusion in every aspect. This confusion has lead to EA.com and Miniclip games being included in the list to be blocked.
The Andhra Pradesh government on September 4th had declared online gambling activities illegal, Now we have learnt that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a letter has asked the Union Minister RS Prasad to ban 132 websites in the state owing to the rise in online gambling.
EA.com and Miniclip are in fact amongst the largest and most well-known game developers in the world and have nothing to do with gambling. EA games has the popular esport title Fifa series under its belt, while Miniclip’s website offers a choice between hundreds of flash games that can be played on the browser. Both the sites are no way involved in money related activities.
Despite the evolving digital culture in a country with over 500 million smartphone users, India is yet to recognize esports as a real sport involving speed, agility and strategy like traditional sports. Compared to the betting element comes in when you pay money to register your virtual team for a contest with other virtual teams. Here the winners gain money from the losers, with the platform taking a cut, unlike esports.
The list also includes the ‘fantasy games’ platforms like Mobile Premier League (MPL) and Paytm first games. The discrepancies here are also clearly visible as many other fantasy platforms based on the same concept didn’t make the list. The list also fails to include ‘real money games’ like Rummy or Poker which clearly feature online betting with real money. Addressing the issue now may bring to light how different esports is from these gambling apps.
Also Read: Govenrment stance on Esports in India and World after PUBG ban
This seems like a good time to draw likes between esports, fantasy games and gambling.
Fantasy Gaming
Here you create a virtual team, whose performance is linked to that of players in a real event like IPL. The betting element comes in when you pay money to register your virtual team for a contest with other virtual teams. Here the winners gain money from the losers, with the platform taking a cut. Courts have so far ruled that picking a fantasy team involves strategy, and so it doesn’t come under the purview of gambling, like in a card game or roulette that’s based more on chance.
Esports
It is a form of video gaming that takes place on a professional and competitive nature. The competition is facilitated by an electronic system, and is often based on organised multi-player video games. Popular games used in the eSports arena include real-time strategy sports, fighting sports, first-person shooter games, and multi-player online battle arena games. Earlier this year PUBG ban was a big heart breaking news for esports fans.
The main ideology between gambling is it being a game of chance, while esports is a game of skill. The major difference between eSports and fantasy sports is that eSports is based entirely on a fictional world while fantasy sports is not.
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