The Esports Federation of India (ESFI) is gearing up to field an Indian contingent in the inaugural edition of the Sim Racing World Cup, which will take place in Monaco on October 23.
The Sim Racing World Cup is being organized by the Monaco Esports Federation in association with the International Esports Federation. It will feature one of the world’s most popular sim racing titles, Assetto Corsa.
The ESFI has announced that it will conduct the National Qualifiers wherein playoffs will be held online as well as offline, while the finals will be played in a hybrid mode. Two sim racers will be selected as representatives of the country at the prestigious event. Registrations for the qualifiers are open until July 3.
The Sim Racing World Cup will be played in two stages—Continental Qualifiers and 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.
As for the Indian contingent that will participate in the World Cup, two players will be selected from an offline event and 18 from an online event. The chosen 20 players will ultimately fight in the finals for two spots in the Indian team.
The offline playoffs event is scheduled to take place in Mumbai at INOX from July 4 to 7, whereas the online playoffs are set to be played from July 8 to 10. The finals will be conducted on July 11 and ESFI will soon announce the venue.
Simulated racing, popularly known as Sim Racing, is a single-player racing game software that attempts to simulate racing with real-world features such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings.
Lokesh Suji, director of the Esports Federation of India and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation, shares his excitement ahead of the playoffs. He said,
“The ESFI is incredibly excited about 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.
He further said,
“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.”
Registrations for National Qualifiers will be held till July 3
ESFI has partnered with India’s largest eRacing organizer, IR Esports, to conduct the Sim Racing National Qualifiers. IR Esports essentially curates, plans, and executes custom motorsport-based campaigns via esports across multiple mediums.
The Founder of IR Esports, Rayomand Banajee, exclaimed,
“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.”
The registrations for the National Qualifiers have already started and will be closed on July 3. The professional players, as well as enthusiasts, can join ESFI Discord for all details including the registrations.
ESFI’s official YouTube and Facebook channels will stream the live-action National Qualifiers for the avid fans.