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Scope and Growth of the gaming industry have grown and gained a solid foothold in India. It has an estimated customer base of more than 630 million streamers and gamers. This further boosts the gaming network in the country giving a solid push to the economy as well.
The recent statistics show the growth of the gaming industry in India to be the fastest. How awesome is that?
Also, guess what? The gaming industry experienced a massive surge since the lockdown began in 2020.
The pandemic hit the other industries in the worst ways possible.
However, here’s the best part!
The gaming industry experienced growth on a large scale.
Let us check the growth of the gaming industry in India, shall we?
Gaming start-ups in India
With the growing investment in the gaming industry, numerous gaming start-ups have started budding. Isn’t that something you would want for your business?
More than 400 gaming start-ups have added to the growth of the gaming industry in India, already.
Yes, you are right! The major highlight of this whole sector is mobile gaming.
Here’s how these gaming start-ups are contributing:
- Adding to the country’s economy by the revenue generated.
- Generating new jobs. There are huge openings in the gaming job market.
- Giving a push to unconventional career options. This in turn is boosting other start-ups that encourage such training.
- By creating localized gaming content, it is drawing the Indian gamers giving a boost to the whole sector.
The major categories of gaming in India
Before diving into the statistics, allow me to walk you through the categories of gaming in India.
There are three chief categories of gaming in India. Follow up!
- Casual games
This is a video game directed at a large scale market audience. Let me break this down. This is different from the hard-core video games, which address a more niche market. Casual games include any form of genre and gameplay.
- Real money
These games charge an admission fee from the participants. For example, these businesses, customer acquisition consists of cashback, marketing, and referrals.
- Esports
This is a form of sport comprising of video games. It is mostly in a multiplayer format. Here’s the interesting part. Esports has gained huge popularity at present. It is on the rise at the global platform.
All these categories are growing in various ways. In India alone, there are around 300 million gamers, both professional and amateur. Amazing, isn’t it?
And the best part is that statistics predict the growth rate to reach around 47% by the end of 2022.
Can you imagine?
Growth of the Esports
Esports has been growing massively since the last year itself. The market size of Esports has hit the $1.1 Billion mark already. Sounds good?
Now you must be wondering about the growth of the gaming industry in India. Well, it is on the pathway to create its own Esports competitions.
You must be wondering what the most popular Esports games are, at present.
Here, take a look!
- PUBG
- League of Legends
- Fortnite
- Call of Duty
- Counter-Strike
- Overwatch
These games are particularly responsible for the popularity of the gaming industry in India.
Be it a toddler from school or a grown-up from a corporate sector, everyone is drawn towards these games.
There’s just no point of return!
Here’s the interesting part! Check out some of the noteworthy involvements of India in Esports, lately:
- India winning a medal in Esports in Asian games, 2018! The popularity of the gaming sector surged in the country.
- Bhubaneshwar hosting the FIFA U -19 Esports qualifier! It included more than 130 participants!
- Also in 2019, India held the qualifiers of the Chinese Esports league. It was hosted by the startup, the Indian league gaming.
Do you see how huge this is?
The growth culture of Gaming Industry
Now, let us tell you about the growing culture of the gaming industry in India:
- Investment in the gaming industry by foreign tech companies
Chinese tech companies have been investing in the gaming industry of India. As per data, they have invested around $8 billion in the sector.
- Companies like Tencent and Alibaba, have gained shares in the top Indian gaming corporations.
We know what you are thinking.
Yes, the Indian government has recently, banned some Chinese apps due to privacy concerns.
However, Tencent has reportedly invested in Dream 11, which seems to be a promising platform.
2. Lumikai, based in New Delhi, started a venture fund aimed at the fast-growing gaming industry in India. International investors support this launch.
These investors further include technology and gaming companies based in Japan, the US, Finland, and South Korea.
- Access to smartphones
I think you will agree with me when I say this. The easy access to smartphones, contribute significantly to the growth of the gaming industry in India.
With access to a cheaper and faster internet connection, the growth of the gaming industry in India is unstoppable. You see our point, right?
With improved technology, the cost of smartphones will fall further, in the future. As a result, the gaming market in India will expand even more.
COVID – 19 impact on the growth of the gaming industry in India
The gaming start-up ventures in India got a huge boost with the global pandemic at play. And the best part is that the gaming start-ups recorded massive customer engagement.
Gaming became the only form of indoor entertainment during the lockdown.
But why is that noteworthy? Well, it resulted in a huge spike in the traffic of the gaming industry in India as well as globally.
Some of the gaming start-ups that recorded growth include:
- PocketAces
- Nazara Technologies
- Paytm First
The gaming industry in India has seen a yearly growth of about 30%. Can you imagine?
Wait, you don’t want to miss the next part!
In 2019, India became the second major online gaming download market space in the world. India overtook the position of the US with over 5 billion downloads. Sounds good?
The Covid-19 impact on the gaming industry further amplified the growth of the gaming industry in India.
Overview
So it all boils to the “quarantine and chill” mode. With the global pandemic hitting the world, this “chill” mode included activities like watching web series, cooking, art, etc.
However, a major part of the mode included online gaming.
With the world shut down, people resorted to online gaming. That is the best opportunity for the start-ups to indulge in the gaming industry. I am sure you are with me on this one!
You must be wondering that how the gaming industry is growing in India, it could soon lead to a mainstream format. Well, yes, you are right!
If you are a startup that wants to venture into this industry, do get in touch with us to build your first MVP. Follow us at TheCodeWork.
Also, if you want to get a hold of what the other industries look like during the pandemic, have a look at our business report.
