World Cricket Championship sequel 2 (WCC2), has been declared the winner in the people’s choice gaming category by the (people for the Indian government driven) Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge. The game won with a great lead at 74 per cent votes with the next following at 13 per cent. The game has also gained the second position in the overall app category from 6,940 entries. The mobile game earned the third position in the jury verdict round as well.
This cricket simulation game developed by Nextwave Multimedia, a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, has witnessed 130 million installs currently and is largely fan driven. This homegrown ‘Made in India’ game is played globally in over 150 countries including UK, Australia, USA, UAE, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
On a winning comment, Nextwave Multimedia co-founder and CEO P.R. Rajendran, says,”We thank the Government of India for creating the platform to showcase and encourage Digital India. Hoping this becomes an annual event. We thank our fans for voting for us in the AatmaNirbharApp People’s Choice Award. This brings us visibility and will inspire us to build further on what we have achieved so far.”
Out of the 326 registrations in the gaming category, WCC 2 received the highest number of votes and emerged as the top choice of people. The mobile game which was at 110 million installs in March 2020 has managed to garner another 20 million additional users recently. The game has also witnessed surge at 25 per cent in daily active users. The game has seen a revenue growth of 20 per cent and a 100 per cent growth in in-app purchases. The game’s, subset ‘Local Rivals’ played within family members, witnessed a 250 per cent rise when the game was made free for the ‘Janata curfew’ weekend.
The AatmaNirbhar challenge and PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign brought to light that Indian game WCC 2 at 110 million installs had already exceeded the popular India banned Chinese game Clash of Kings then at a 100 million installs and it overrode the Chinese game globally.
The company launched WCC 3 beta version recently with bilingual commentary by celebrity cricketers like Aakash Chopra and Matthew Hayden. The game comes with competitive multiplayer focus, simulation of actual cricket, updated gameplay features like brand new controls, exciting animations, real-time motions of athletes and professional cricketers, advanced artificial and a full-fledged career mode with over 400 tournaments.
The company is all set to launch the final version of the much awaited WCC 3. The beta version has already touched 4 million downloads in over two months of beta launch.