The Indian Gaming Boom

Gaming has been on a steady rise for the past 10 years. Long are the days when this activity was considered for ‘geeks’ or specific layers of consumers. According to several reports, there could be as many as 2.95 billion gamers around the world, with India recording around 390 million gamers in 2021. India is also the 5th country in the world with the highest number of hours spent playing video games a week on average at 6.35 hours.쿨카지노 먹튀검증

This phenomenon directly results from the improvement of internet connections, increased digital literacy, and, most of all, the mass dissemination of smartphones. This is particularly true when we look at India’s internal market.

Indian Smartphone Population

In recent years, India has gone from having a smartphone penetration of 22% in 2017 to reach 35% in 2021. This means that in four years, the number of smartphone users grew by 192 million in the country alone. As a result, India is now the second-biggest smartphone market in the world, trailing only China, which has over 950 million smartphone users and smartphone penetration of 66%.쿨카지노 안전도메인

While these numbers may be surprising, they only tell half of the story. Overall, India has surpassed 700 million Internet users and currently has one of the highest consumptions of mobile data in the world. These numbers reflect the immense growth potential of the country and why it has become so attractive for different smartphone manufacturers. As of 2022, Xiaomi is responsible for 28% of all smartphone sales in the country, meaning that the brand has a higher implementation in the South Asian country than in its domestic market, China.펀카지노 먹튀검증

Impact on Mobile Gaming

Smartphone games and mobile gaming have long dominated the global gaming market. Data from 2020, shows that mobile games account for 40% of the global gaming revenue, single-handedly collecting US$86.3 billion. These massive numbers have had a direct impact on different gaming segments, which greatly benefited from this new wave of mobile players.

The online casino industry is an example of this. This emerging business has increased the number of active players and has become particularly competitive with platforms trying to outdo their rivals by featuring better exclusive offers, bonuses, free spins, and welcome gifts to attract more players. As a result, players can now access guides on the best real money mobile casinos and decide which offers are best for them. Sites like this now detail the payout rates, as well as supplementary information to help guide players to find the best casinos.

But that’s not all: more conventional types of games, such as puzzles, first-person shooters, and battle royale shooters, among others, have also become increasingly popular. For instance, the Indian market is responsible for 25% of all PUBG’s downloads, registering 50 million active users per month. To get a better sense of how much the industry is growing, we only need to look at recent reports that claim that gaming is now growing faster than social media. This has also greatly benefited Indian games, including Ludo King, MPL, and Dream 11, which have surpassed the 100 million download mark.

Console Gaming 

With users being offered enhanced gaming experiences on their mobile phones, they no longer need to purchase specific hardware (consoles) to play some of their favorite titles. Still, data on the video game console market indicates that this segment has a projected annual growth of 10% from 2022 to 2026. As of 2022, this segment is also valued at US$13.41 billion. PlayStation dominates the market and has registered steady growth in its dominance since September last year. The growth in this gaming segment has also been aided by the recent rise of Esports in the country. Esports has been named an official sport by the Indian Olympic Association, with the number of players expected to reach one million in 2022.

While India’s video game publishing industry is still largely considered underdeveloped, local gaming studios have registered a significant increase from 15 in 2009 to 275 in 2021. In addition, international powerhouse studios have opened offices in the country to try and establish their brands in this still expanding market. 

Next Steps 

While India certainly has an immense internal market which is expected to continue to grow as demand also increases, it is essential to complement this growth with further investment in developing a game publishing industry. Moreover, India could have the resources to expand its industry to compete with other Asian countries including Japan and China.