With a user base so large, there is always tremendous opportunity for games of every genre to do well,” says Karan Gambhir, head of business development, Google Play Apps & Games. “Indians download over a billion apps from the Play Store every month. Google, for one, thinks that there’s some forward momentum. As Indians prefer to play free games, gaming firms, mobile operators and web giants such as Google are still figuring out how to squeeze more out of a growing band of gamers.
However, experts agree that there’s a long way to go. It is only in the last two years that a new wave of mobile gaming has caught on.Īlong the way, other pieces of the mobile gaming market, such as small payments for games (or in-game power-ups and lives) have begun to gain traction. Even when broadband entered the scene, connections were slow and spotty. Then, PC gaming caught on, but computers too were costly (even today a good gaming rig can cost around `1 lakh) and the best gear - mouse, monitors, ear pieces - was unaffordable or simply unavailable. For years, the local market was negligible consoles were expensive and access was limited. Game Changer Over the past two decades, gaming companies have slowly moved from outsourcing backend work to India to developing complete games from here (Zynga, for one) - and are now eyeing the local market. The centre of gravity has moved from costly, console-based variants to an array of mobile phone-based games. “But the ingredients are all there now for the industry to grow rapidly.” For companies like his, this means phones have become cheaper and creaky wired broadband that the industry struggled with has given way to faster mobile broadband, with Reliance Jio acting as a game changer. “The Indian gaming industry has taken its time finding its secret sauce,” says Rajan Navani, vice-chairman, JetSynthesys. The firm has sewn up several joint venture agreements to deepen its presence, besides launching hit games such as Sachin Saga, with a couple of million downloads in under a month.
Meanwhile, JetSynthesys, which makes digital products and platforms for mobile phones, is using gaming as an arrowhead to make a technology leap. Older companies such as Nazara Games, having raised $51 million in funding from IIFL Special Opportunities Fund, is finalising a public listing, even as others such as Cobx have announced esports championships with prize money topping a crore of rupees.
The industry struggled for growth for much of the past two decades - bogged down by poor connectivity and costly hardware - but there’s a spring in the step of companies and gamers. A slew of esports companies like Mumbai-based Cobx Gaming and Bengaluru-based GamingMonk are queuing up to attract the attention of curious and professional gamers alike. It isn’t just swish places like LXG that are attracting swarms of gamers.
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