Indian online gaming market currently stands at $290 million, and is poised to grow to $1billion by 2021.
Awareness, innovation, corporate involvement, Asian Games and free internet- all these and more contributed in making 2018 a lucrative year for the growth of the gaming industry in India. India was not just hooked on to PUBG but also a host of other games and fantasy sports, taking the gaming market to newer heights this year.
According to a report on online gaming in India by KPMG in India and Google, the Indian online gaming market currently stands at $290 million, and is poised to grow to $1 billion by 2021. As for number of gamers in India, it is expected to touch 310 million by 2021, up from 120 million in 2016. According to experts, 2018 saw the addition of 75-90 million gamers to the fraternity in India.
The key driver of market volume was production of low-cost smartphones amongst urban and rural population said the report.
It is not just the number of gamers that is increasing in the country. Indian participation in global tournaments in e-sport categories has also given the industry a push. In the inaugural edition of eSports at the Asian Games this year India won its first bronze medal.
Gamers have also been enthusiastic about investing in the game they enjoy. JetSynthesys, a digital media and entertainment company that creates games for the local and international market, undertook a study of over 1,100 millennials across metro cities and Tier-2 cities to understand gaming preferences across mobile, console, PC and other new forms of gaming like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and found out that young gamers are also beginning to spend money on games.
The most preferred price point for Indian gamers is less than Rs 500. Around 15 percent of gamers spend anywhere between Rs 1000 and Rs 3000 on games, and six percent spend anywhere between Rs 3000 and Rs 10,000.
While the situation has been conducive for gamers, the market is also favourable for developers. Local companies are evolving from being a service provider to end-to-end game developers. The official game based on the Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Patt starrer Passengers was developed in partnership with India-based Hero Digital Entertainment.
"Surprisingly, close to 100 games are being developed in India for the international market every year," said Rajan Navani, managing director and CEO of JetSynthesys, With other original titles such as Kingdom Hearts 2.8, Sea of Thieves and others in the kitty, India is also fast becoming a hub for game development catering to markets like US, China, Japan and Europe.
Development of fantasy sports has also been seen a huge push.
"By 2020, there will be 30 crore Indian sports fans watching sports online, so we are sure that 33% of them (10 crore) will play fantasy sports, compared to the US where 65% of sports fans play fantasy sports," said Harsh Jain, CEO and co-founder of Dream11, a sports gaming platform with over 4 crore users.
"In recent years, the fantasy sports industry in India has witnessed an exponential growth, especially with the growth in online sports viewership and high-speed internet penetration across tier-2 and tier-3 cities. An increase in the number of sports fans has resulted in newer operators entering the market, which in turn has given a strong impetus to this already booming industry," added Jain.
Some of the biggest sports leagues in the world such as the ICC, FIH, BBL, CPL, ISL and the NBA are using fantasy sports as their primary tool of fan engagement. Even the IPL and EPL have their own fantasy sports offering and the whole industry is focused on providing a holistic user experience through a highly engaging sports product offering.
