The gaming industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade both globally and nationally. It is currently valued at 160 billion dollars and is predicted to be valued at double its value (300 billion dollars) by 2025. In India, the number of studios increased from a mere 25 game studios to almost 300 game companies now. There are presently 2.5 billion gamers across the world and India has the highest youth population in the world which enables huge potential for the growth of the Indian gaming ecosystem.
The FICCI-EY report ‘The era of consumer A.R.T. – Acquisition Retention and Transaction,’ that was recently launched found that Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector reached $25.7 billion in 2019, a growth of about nine per cent over 2018 and the online gaming segment retained its position as the fastest growing segment on the back of transaction-based games mainly fantasy sports, increased in-app purchases and a 31 per cent growth in the number of online gamers to reach around 365 million. This represents a 14x growth since 2010, when there were 25 million gamers. The online gaming segment grew 40 per cent in 2019 to reach Rs. 65 billion and is expected to reach Rs187 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 43 per cent.
More and more enthusiasts across the country are taking up game development as a career option to cater to the burgeoning need in the indigenous ecosystem which is poised to grow in the coming years.
Says Backstage Pass Institute of Gaming and Technology Surya P., “Proper education and guidance is primary to become a game developer with an advanced skill set. The fundamentals of game development are important to make any talented student flourish and reach the top. Backstage Pass Institute of Gaming and Technology offers game development courses with in-depth concept analysis and guidance by the mentors who have years of experience in the industry.”
The institute has its branches in Pune and Bengaluru now after a decade of cementing its position in Hyderabad.
The college apparently facilitates practical learning by helping students build games under the supervision of their mentors. “A good example for why proper education and courses are needed to join the industry is, some game companies hire IT engineers and train them in a particular software, like Unity and give them positions but, these engineers will be Unity programmers but not game programmers as they do not have the fundamental knowledge to be able to program games using anything except Unity.” explains the founder.
While choosing a college for gaming education in the country can be a tricky choice, one must take all the time in their hands. They should choose a college which has specially curated courses for game development and not a course which has it partially in an overall course.
And it is also imperative for students to check if the college or institution provides guidance and pathways towards landing a job in the industry.
Says the head of BSP, “In our decade long journey, we have interacted and built a network with the top game companies in India due to which we provide our students with excellent paid internships and job opportunities in such esteemed companies.We follow a mentorship approach which allows us to offer our students personalised supervision in their course of study by our experienced mentors”.
Like many other top institutions, the aforementioned college also strongly believes in teaching the fundamentals to each concept, whether big or small, as that builds the students’ foundation of knowledge and enhances their skillset.
While theoretical knowledge is a part of any educational course, implication of the same is of utmost importance. Only with practical usage can students learn for better, be it any field with gaming not being an exception.
Backstage Pass puts emphasis on practical learning by encouraging students to build games under the supervision of their mentors, then publish these games and generate revenue which is also shared amongst the team which motivates our students to learn more and do better.
Concludes Surya, Our alumni of our early batches as well as recent batches are flourishing in the gaming Industry by becoming entrepreneurs or working for top game companies in India and abroad.”
