The emerging and fast-paced world of speedrun gaming in India

It’s time to push ‘start’ on India’s growing movement of speedrun gaming, where players race to finish a single mission or a whole title. We speak to some gaming content creators about the skill and creativity needed to perfect this high-adrenalin esport

Sporting an ear-to-ear smile, Anshu Bisht settles at his PC gaming station at home in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. He picks up his controller and puts on his headset as his livestream kicks off. Anshu, better known as GamerFleet, says into the mic — as the audience numbers tick upwards into the thousands — he has something special planned: a speedrun for the popular world-building game Minecraft.

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Speedrunning, as its name suggests, sees the playing of a video game, or a section of it, with the intent of completing it as fast as possible, be it for entertainment or competition. Geared towards the completionist among gamers, it has garnered quite a cult following over the past two decades. Speedrunning, done both in a solo environment or a more competitive e-sports space, can be done on a mobile device like a smartphone or a tablet, as well as the typical console and PC setups.