ESFI announces dates for NESC 2023

The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) has announced the dates for the 2023 National Esports Championships (NESC) to pick the Indian contingent for the upcoming 15th World Esports Championships (WEC) in Ia?i, Romania. The preliminary rounds of the national qualifiers are scheduled to take place online from March 14 to 19, 2023, with the Grand Finals set to begin on March 24, 2023.

The ESFI will also be conducting the qualifiers for the country’s top female athletes in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) title. Overall, India’s proficient athletes will be competing in four different esports titles: CS:GO, Dota 2, Tekken and eFootball.

Vinod Tiwari, President of the ESFI, commented:

“This is set to be the biggest ever year for Indian Esports where the country will be competing for glory at the Asian Games, Olympic Esports Week, Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games, and the 15th World Esports Championships. [The] ESFI is excited to not only witness the high pulsating action of the qualifiers but to also conduct these qualifiers for the country’s talented female athletes for the very first time and see them represent the country at the biggest Esports tournament on the globe. The official recognition of Esports as a multi-sport event has brought about a paradigm shift that has kickstarted the golden era of video-gaming in the country. We wish all the athletes competing in the qualifiers the very best and are confident that they will make the country proud at the WEC 2023.“

After the conclusion of NESC 2023, the Indian athletes will be taking part in the regional qualifiers, where they will take on competitors from other countries of the Asia and Oceania region. The dates for the regional qualifiers will be announced soon.

Organised by the International Esports Federation, the WEC 2023 will have a whopping prize pool of US$500,000 and is set to be the largest edition of the tournament to date, with at least 130 countries participating in it.

The global finals of the tournament will take place from August 24 to September 4, 2023.