Gaming sector is seeing a prominent rise in the number of users, revenue, investments, expansion and so on. As per Statista, the market value of India’s gaming industry was around 90 billion Indian rupees in financial year 2020. This was estimated to go up to over 143 billion rupees by 2022. Because of the tremendous growth witnessed by the sector in 2020, it has emerged as a business sector that is proving to be immensely lucrative by the industry investors.
India is predominantly a mobile first country and here audiences prefer gaming and esports on mobile more than any other devices. With time, Indian gaming sector is getting mature and players are exploring different other devices, not restricting themselves to just mobile devices. In Deloitte India’s recent report the gaming industry is poised to grow at a CAGR of 40 per cent by 2022, scaling the total market size to US$2.8 billion. This growth will majorly be driven by mobile gaming as nearly 85 per cent of online gaming takes place on smartphones in India. The research encapsulates the role played by the edge computing market, adoption of AI and IoT, rise of AR/VR technologies and growth of mobility and other application services.
Gaming, esports, games of skill sectors are fast-paced and extremely diverse. Today, because of the diversity, passionate gamers are constantly craving for high-quality gaming experience as they aren’t satisfied with the existing technologies. To retain good players and encourage others to take it up, software developers and game creators need to keep re-inventing and executing new technologies.
Being a game creator, Creative Monkey Games CEO and co-founder Deepak Aravind shared, “This pandemic and work from home culture has converted many non-gamers to gamers and also offline gamers to online gamers. We game developers want to capitalise on the trend and started coming up with online competitive games which involve more social engagement. Also, the Indian market is the most favourite marketplace for all game developers across the globe as it has the highest young population with access to mobile phones and the internet. This rise of competitive gaming among mobile users is driving motivation for most game developers to come up with interesting game ideas.”
Likewise, there are other factors which are also important for the growth of the industry, like more esports participation, tournament, content creation, game streaming, 5G integrated devices, new investments, clear understanding of gaming, real money games, game of skill and so on.
Overall gaming is growing and organisations are expanding to gain more momentum. According to industry experts here are the trends that will lead the growth of the sector way forward in 2021:
Ultimate Battle founder Tarun Gupta shared, “2021 seems to be the year when esports will hit the mainstream. I anticipate multiple Esports Leagues to take root with OEM/Brands coming forward to endorse and support the same. The Government is also actively looking at creating a regulatory framework to bifurcate esports from the rest of the gaming industry. So, there is a lot that we hope to see in the year 2021 in the esports space.”
Indian Gaming League CEO and founder Yash Pariani said, “Of the several recreational options, those that required physical presence or involved larger gatherings became operational due to the pandemic. Therefore, options such as live concerts, movie theatres and watching sports live in stadiums – all got excluded from the set of possible choices. And the options that could be consumed within the confines of our homes did not allow the creation of fresh content. This is where gaming could provide a constructive outlet to people and supported creation and consumption in the ‘new normal’, thus gaining traction compared to other entertainment options.”
The Esports Club, co-founder Ishaan Arya, says, “The emerging trends in esports and gaming reflect precisely what audiences want in terms of participation opportunities and the kind of content they want more of. Gaming in India continues to be driven largely by mobile gaming of course; however, smartphones and easy connectivity have also driven up gaming content consumption reflected in online engagement and significant growth in esports viewership. We are also starting to see an increase in the crossover between non-gaming personalities like comedians, athletes, actors, and esports; with media and personalities introducing newer audiences to the exciting world of competitive video games.”
Trinity Gaming co-founder and COO Shivam Rao, shared, “Todays gaming is considered one of the most lucrative career options in India. Content marketing will be the key trend to revolutionise the gaming and esports sector in 2021. It helps beginners to make a serious career out of their passion and past time from gaming. Content marketing has taken the profession to the next level by helping these gaming content creators, influencers and YouTubers to master and monetise their craft via brand campaign partnerships.”
Esports Federation of India director and Asian Esports Federation VP Lokesh Suji shared, “The current pandemic, for the most part, has shifted the entire esports set-up online. It offers a balanced mix of fun, learning and engagement and has something for everyone irrespective of their demographics, something all of us can benefit from. Esports mustn’t be clubbed with playing Teen Patti, rummy, poker, fantasy and real money games. One of the many key trends that will drive the Indian esports industry in 2021 in esports and gaming is streaming/content creation; streaming is where anyone can record or show their game by broadcasting it live over the internet through streaming platforms. Content creation includes custom graphics to their stream, communication through a chat room with viewers, and trying to inform the viewers and entertain them. It enables fans to get closer to the action and to make some extra money for pro gamers and entertainers.”
Dangal Games founder and CEO Varun Mahna said, “The gaming world has pushed its limits to another level with each passing day. It is as easy as it sounds. In a fraction of minutes, new opportunities are created, and milestones are achieved to meet the expectations of players with the use of cutting-edge technologies. The technology trends that are going to last this year and the coming years are online transactions and payments becoming super easy, online gaming is enabling the players to enjoy games with the HD graphic experience, the latest advancements like facial and voice recognition that can adapt to the emotions of the player and the emergence of cloud gaming.
EWar Games has recently collaborated with South Africa’s former cricket legend and commentator Jonty Rhodes to promote its EWar Fantasy initiative during IPL 2021 .shared, “As the IPL fever hits our country, millions of Indians are currently hooked to watching real cricketing action and playing Fantasy Cricket simultaneously every day, and they are winning big money by playing fantasy games online. In the recent past, many of the existing users on our EWar platform had demanded ‘Fantasy’; therefore, we at EWar now feel glad to meet their expectations and announce the launch of Fantasy Cricket gaming on our app for the first time. Throughout this IPL T20 Season 2021, we will be having a plethora of real-time Fantasy leagues/contests on EWar app, with prize pools as high as upto 20 lakhs and a total of 30k+ winners. Our users will also get a chance to win a smartphone every day by participating in maximum numbers of real-money Fantasy Cricket games.”