Mukesh Ambani: Gaming is the next big thing

Post disrupting the online space in India by offering data packs at dirt cheap prices, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has hinted online gaming will be the next million-dollar opportunity in the country.  “There is a huge potential” for gaming to grow in India, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, said while speaking with Microsoft Corp. chief executive officer Satya Nadella in Mumbai on Monday. “For many of us who don’t know what gaming is, it is very hard to imagine but gaming will be bigger than music, movies and television shows put together.”


According to Ambani, gaming will be the next big gamechanger and will be bigger than music, movies and TV shows all put together. “Gaming is really doesn’t exist in India… With cloud and broadband connectivity, there is huge potential,” he told Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during a fireside chat at the Future Decoded Mumbai CEO Summit in Mumbai.

However, the richest Indian was categorical that he has no plans of becoming a gamer anytime in the next decade. He said technology presents an opportunity to transform India. He went on to say that Reliance Jio with the Jio Fiber broadband service, they are geared up to change that.

Ambani’s interest in gaming comes at a time when the country is witnessing the growth of online fantasy sports leagues, quizzing and card games such as poker. This is being aided by the proliferation of affordable smartphones — users are expected to reach 850 million in two years — high-speed internet and falling data prices. Revenue from online gaming is expected to climb from 43.8 billion rupees ($610 million) in the year ended March 2018 to 118.8 billion rupees by fiscal 2023, KPMG said in a March 2019 report