India set to take part in first-ever Sim Racing World Cup

The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) will field an Indian contingent in the inaugural edition of the Sim Racing World Cup, which is set to be held in Monaco on October 23, 2022.

The prestigious tournament, organised by the Monaco Esports Federation in association with the International Esports Federation, will feature one of the world’s most popular sim racing titles, Assetto Corsa. In order to select the two sim racers who will represent their country at the prestigious event, the ESFI will be conducting the National Qualifiers, wherein playoffs will be held both online as well as offline, while the finals will be played in a hybrid mode. Two players will be selected from the offline event and eighteen from the online event; these twenty will ultimately fight in the finals for the two spots in the Indian contingent.

The offline playoffs event is scheduled to take place in Mumbai from July 4 to 7, 2022, while the online playoffs will be played from July 8 to 10. The finals will be conducted on July 11 and the ESFI will soon announce the venue.

The ESFI has joined hands with India’s largest eRacing organiser, IR Esports, to conduct the National Qualifiers. IR Esports curates plans and executes custom motorsport-based campaigns via Esports across various media.

Lokesh Suji, Director of Esports Federation of India and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation, commented:

“The ESFI is incredibly excited for the inaugural edition of the Sim Racing World Cup which is the largest sim racing event to date and to expand to simulator-based esports. We urge all car racing enthusiasts to participate in the national qualifiers and show their real racing talent with their skills around karting and drifting in the game. 

“Racing games are very popular in our country and everyone has that nostalgic vibe with these games. It’s time to prove our mettle on the international stage and this will be a true representation of ESFI’s commitment to the growth and development of sustainable and responsible gaming in our country.“

Rayomand Banajee, Founder of IR Esports, stated:

“We are very excited to announce our partnership with ESFI. Together we can grow the online racing (sim racing) space in India. Online racing is already hugely popular amongst the Indian youth, and creating a proper structure will create opportunities for these esports athletes.“

Simulated racing, popularly known as sim racing, is a genre of video games which attempts to simulate racing with real-world features, such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings.

The Sim Racing World Cup will be played in two stages: the Continental Qualifiers and the Global Finals. Two players from each country will participate in the Continental Qualifiers, and only one winning athlete from the continent will be qualified for the Global Finals.

The registrations for the National Qualifiers have already started and will close on July 3. Both professional players as well as enthusiasts can join the ESFI Discord channel here for more details.