Online Gaming in India

Published Date : 22 May 2023

Playing games has been a part of almost everyone's life, be it in their childhood or adulthood, all cultures over the world have had games as a part of their children's growth and entertainment, and as such, there has always been tremendous growth for gaming in the industrial market space, and the same can be seen in India too.

It is widely known that Indians play more mobile games than any other country in the world, in fact, India currently holds to be the 2nd largest gamer base in the world.

With the accession of mobile games into the world, as from the growth in the gaming market space, has come an abundance of online games, providing people with the fantastic opportunity to enjoy games from anywhere in the world with anyone with just their phone and the internet. Online gaming is one of India's fastest-growing sectors in the gaming industry.

The Growth of Online Gaming in India

The welcoming of online gaming in India can be dated back to the early 2000s when computer and console games were started to be generated at an affordable and easy rate to bring Indians of middle-class income onto online digital gaming platforms. Their popularity increased even higher when most of the most popular Indian games, such as board games, card games and strategy games like Ludo, Rummy, Snake and Ladder, Cricket, Teen Patti, Carom, etc., were turned digital and online, making it accessible for people to play from anywhere and anytime.

Various polls and surveys conducted have shown that about 56% of Indian gamers are present in non-metro cities with the general users for online games on average consisting of young adults, mostly ranging from the age of 18 to 30 years old. It has also been seen that women are the ones more invested in playing online games than men, especially games that involve skills and strategic thinking.

According to a report by KPMG, the online gaming sector is predicted to grow at the rate of 29% (CAGR -Compound Annual Growth Rate) during the timeline of financial years between 2021-2025 and reach about 2.21 billion dollars, making it to be the fastest-growing sector, mainly due to the ease of availability and reach.

The Expansion of the Gaming Industry

Due to the increased craze in the market for online games, there are constantly various improvements, upgrades, innovations, etc., being made to enhance the players' gaming experience in this industry.

As the ideas and innovations about the games are expanding, new and different versions of online games are being planned with the inclusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) to provide the players with an even more realistic gaming experience with this gaming sector.

With the rush of new players continuously onboarding the gaming sector, its growth, success and capital have reached the point that the industry has become a significant contributor to the country's economy and has been generating employment for thousands of people all over the world.

There can be said to be no limit to the number of players that constantly engage in online gaming, mostly driven by the bonus of home-based comfort and easy accessibility while being entertained and having fun.

The Future of Online Games in India

The onboarding of new players brings about the expansion of the industry and the emergence of new gaming platforms. The gaming market is big, crowded, highly competitive, and constantly growing. The ability, capability and sustainability of standing out in the crowd are what make a game more popular.

Using different strategies and ideas gaming companies have been working on pulling more players to them. As new players are added, the gaming platforms grow creating more revenue for them and increasing the growth of an already growing market ten-fold.

As the gaming sector keeps evolving, new gaming trends keep emerging, the companies that stay ahead of the curve by embracing new ideas and technology and focusing on expanding themselves into new horizons will be the ones that thrive and succeed in the coming years.