Games have always been No 1 source of entertainment for India for several decades. We have grown up on a staple of games like Ludo, Chess, Rummy, and other card games for decades. No Indian festival or any kind of family gathering is complete without games. Also, the weekends never end without some outdoor game action like cricket, gully, and football. We can always play these games over and over again, and we will never get bored of these games.
What ties these diverse sets of games is the passion for the game, the physical and mental effort that this game requires and most importantly the will to win. Smartphones have invaded every aspect of your life – games are no exception. With the advent of the internet, the gaming industry has become a behemoth and is registering staggering growth rates giving other entertainment industries a run for their money.
According to a Nasscom report, India’s mobile games market is expected to touch $ 1 Billion by 2020 with 628 million active users. This is an astronomical increase from the last-known figure of $290 million in 2016. Globally, India ranks first among the countries that see the maximum download of games. The growth can also be seen in the rising number of game development companies which went up to 250 this year from a mere 25 in 2012. That’s a 10 fold increase. According to a KPMG report, at least 100 companies would emerge in the next 3 or 4 years specializing in core game development in India.
Current Gaming Trends
Types of Games
While western gamers excel in role-play games, Indians prefer to play strategy, puzzle, and card games. Games like 13 card Classic Rummy are growing steadily in popularity as well as in terms of the number of players. According to a study by App Annie, rummy game download is the most downloaded game among strategy games. Also, fantasy sports like fantasy cricket are catching up with traditional card games in terms of download. With the growing popularity of these games, Google has contributed its share by relaxing the rules for real money games.
Localized Content
Despite the international games dominating the Indian gaming scene (PubG, Fortnite, Clash of Clans), in the action/adventure genre, there is a growing demand for localized content. Games like Baahubali which cashed in on the popularity of the film saw huge downloads. With the earlier infrastructure restrictions addressed, gaming companies are focussing on creating localized content. We can expect games with localized content to rule this segment in a few years time
Cash Games
A few years ago, games were just played as entertainment. Games like Indian rummy redefined the entertainment industry with their exceptional offerings. Now a lot of players are taking to playing games as a profession with lucrative deals on offer. The biggest roadblock to the gaming industry that people wouldn’t pay for games has been shattered thanks to games like Rummy and Poker.
Strategy games
The key element in Strategy games is that you get better while playing it continuously. Strategy games require your utmost concentration and focus and application of your logical and analytical skills. What makes strategy games click is that the element of skills completely dominates the element of chance, thereby giving every player an opportunity to win. People do love challenges and that’s exactly what these games offer. Strategy games like Indian rummy and poker are registering more downloads than other games. Also, these industries are growing at a healthy rate of 30%
Another thing working in favor of strategy games is that most of them have simple rules that easy to learn and the games do not require much time.
The gaming sector is clearly growing big as a business and in number. With the further influx of technology, we can expect the sector to become more robust and edgy.
