The online gaming industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40per cent to $2.8 billion by 2022, up from $1.1 billion in 2019, according to a Deloitte India report.
According to report several factors such as younger demographics, increasing smartphone penetration, affordable data plans and rising number of rural consumers and women users coming into the gaming fold, among others, are fuelling the growth of this sector.
Time spent on gaming apps, increased by 21 per cent during the initial national lockdown, with the total customer base crossing 300 million users in the country.
India is one of the top five mobile gaming markets in the world, with 13 per cent share of global game sessions, and is expected to add nearly 40 million online gamers during 2020−22, the Deloitte report noted. Segments such as real money games, e-sports and fantasy sports are expected to witness strong double digit growth in this period.
Deloitte India partner Jehil Thakkar, said, “Globally the video game industry is nearly four times the size of the box office revenues. In India the gaming industry is currently less than half of the box office collections. But now gaming industry is expected to narrow this gap. The gaming segment has attracted investments of about $450 million in the past few years and is expected to continue to attract more investments especially from international players.”
In-game revenue streams, such as chargeable expansion packs or virtual coin packs, as well as subscriptions, are picking up pace. Indian gaming platforms have attracted more than $450 million in the last six years.