Esports is still a niche community and it is only going to grow and get bigger: Zara Rebello

There is a thrill in getting dressed up as a cosplay artist and thrill of posing for our favorite character. Cosplay has its origin in words costume and play. Cosplay is when one dresses up as their favourite comic book character.

The Bridge recently got chance to interview Zara Rebello, who has a passion for both cosplay art and egames.

Rebello’s journey started in the small town of Nasik. She got into gaming by watching her four elder brothers play games online but her real interest into the world of esports started when she was 14 and when one of her friends gifted her Dota 2 game.

Zara Rebello has a passion for both cosplay art and egames(Image: Zara Rebello )

The game got her hooked. Dota 2 also introduced her to the cosplay community.

“I used to go to Bombay every weekend to attend events and at one of the Comic Con events I played a character from Dota 2 and that helped me with my confidence on stage’’ Rebello said.

Because she did a gaming cosplay she got involved with cosplay and gaming community together. She plays video games for fun but she is more passionate on the event side of esports.

Elaborating on events of esports she says “I was never the athlete but was the event manager, I even managed a CS Go (Counter Strike Go) team and I worked with AFK Gaming that sums up my relationship with gaming’’

Rebello is addicted to Dota. Talking about her addiction for the game she stated “There were days where I was in gaming cafes for 15 hours straight and kept playing Dota we just sat and gamed the entire time.’’

She highlights the difficulties of being an esport gamer.

“My team practices for nine hours everyday and also they have to deal with being physically fit and take care of mental health’’

Currently she is pursuing her degree in Arts and plans to return to the esports after her degree “I have recently managed a CS-GO team in Bangalore and in the future I plan on taking a game streaming job but I first want to finish my degree and take it step by step’’

There is patriarchy in esports and Rebello throws on this aspect too.

“The patriarchy exists in esports’’ says Rebello.

“When a female gamer comes up to me and says that I am a gamer there is so much stigma attached to it.” Elaborates Rebello.

A lot of female gamers are questioned when they say they game as people think they are doing it for attention.

But she also feels that there are a few female gamers who support each other and stick together with is good for esports. There are a lot of her female friends who have supported her and pushed her to do better.

Her parents supported her but they weren’t happy with her screen time but never discouraged her specially after they understood about the industry and how it worked. But her mother has inhibitions as she has problem with violence in egaming.

Zara fells blessed that she had her parents support when she needed it the most. (Image: Zara Robello )

Robello have had her share of achievements in esports. She was awarded the ESL Cosplay award in Delhi in 2016. She went to Malaysia for another cosplay event. She has also worked with Nova Play which is a video gaming service.

She wants to contribute more to the world of esports but is waiting for her degree to finish.

She has been involved in the art part of esports and management of events and not only playing.

“Esports is still a niche community and its only going to grow and get bigger’’ Rebello explained.

When it comes to career options, she encourages esports gamers to chase their dream and just do what you love. “To me if you enjoy playing video games enjoy and play it’’ she concludes.

Also Read: Willing to push and encourage more women to take up Esports-Apollonia Hinds

Also Read: Virtual world transforms me into a different person-Shagufta Iqbal aka Xyaa