Mobile and online games have posted remarkable growth figures over the past year, partly driven by pandemic lockdowns. Despite an obscure legal framework, the industry is expected to create jobs, attract new consumers and investors.
Mature beyond Its Age
The Indian gaming industry has grown quickly in the past decade. Especially in the past couple of years, the popularity of online gaming has turned the domestic desi market from a consumer of foreign content to an all-round ecosystem for digital entertainment and online cricket betting. Increasingly affordable smartphones and cheap data packages did their part, yet the gaming culture has always been there.
Then came the Covid-19 pandemic, with physical distancing globally the norm – and the Union following suit – teaching billions to work, buy and play from their homes on a daily basis. Media reports began citing more often boredom and new habits as the ultimate reason behind the latest surge in popularity of mobile gaming.
While desi gamers were estimated at roughly 250 million in 2018, the number rose to 365 in the pandemic 2020, making the country the second-largest online gaming market after China. The latest KPMG analysis of the industry speaks of 433 million of total users across India and forecasts them to reach 657 million by 2025.
In the same timeframe, sector revenues are expected to more than double from current figures and touch Rs 29,000 crore (roughly $ 4 billion). Casual gaming is predicted to drive overall growth, more than Real-money gaming (RMG) and Fantasy sports combined.
Clearly, pandemic had their influence on such market growth, and the repeated waves and lockdowns consolidated the trend. Nevertheless, apps and operators reported higher average levels of monthly users (MAU) across the board and throughout the year.
Lack of Clear Regulation Holds Industry Back
Pay-to-play games and real money online casino platforms have also posted consistent growth figures in the past year. However, most RMG operators are forced to work “in the dark” due to the unclear legal status of many games of chance and even some random yet casual game genres. While the positive trend for the gaming industry is here to stay, unregulated markets threaten its growth more than any potential changes to consumption patterns.
Investors have so far backed the sector heavily. KPMG estimates that more than half a billion USD has been poured into Indian gaming in the latter part of 2020 alone. Such investments are crucial for desi tech companies to keep up their innovation and competitiveness levels, including via scale-ups to reach global markets. But while the industry is still hiring developers, engineers and even testers, it will be able to sustain its growth only through clear regulatory prospects in the long run.
New Frontiers and Consumer Groups
For the first time in a while, the growth of an important digital segment has been sustained more by penetration beyond Tier-2 cities rather than in urban metropolises. Gradually, an increasing number of female and middle-aged gamers have joined the party, especially in the casual gaming niche.
Catering for a diverse user group also means providing more localised content, with the top online games always coming in a few language versions – e.g. Marathi, Bengali or Telugu besides Hindi. And while rural users might need more stable support and coverage, their urban peers are after more immersive gaming experiences, including features possible with 5G speeds that the nation is expecting to roll out towards the end of 2021.
