29 Jan 2019
From Super Mario Brothers to Pokemon Go and Candy Crush, all of us have enjoyed the thrill of digital gaming. So much so that people like us have made gaming a huge entertainment industry. India, with its creative talent, large digital savvy population and treasure trove of imagination, is emerging as a player in this global industry.
India, along with USA, China, Brazil, and Russia is already amongst the top five players, in the digital gaming industry. The global market, growing at a CAGR of 6.6%, is expected to end 2019 at USD 118.6 billion with mobile gaming at USD 52.5 billion.B India’s prevailing USD 890 million mobile games market, with over 250 game development companies, is expected to be worth USD 1.1 billion by 2020 with over 628 million users.
Ease of access to online games, backed by the largest numbers of mobile users in the world with growing disposable incomes, is key to the industry flourishing. With declining data charges in India, the App ecosystem in general along with mobile games and video streaming has seen a lot of growth. A survey reveals that mobile gaming is part of the daily lives of more than one-third Indians who play mobile games at least five days a week.
With more money moving through the industry, increasing overseas investment and partnership are already visible. Certain industry trends are discernible which will create business opportunities. As more global companies enter India, Live PvP (Player vs Player) games will dominate the charts in India.
Gaming content, prominent in digital channels such as YouTube, has the potential to be broadcasted on TV. Media companies are taking note. With thousands turning out to watch gamers play live and millions more watching on the internet, e-sports could soon become a staple of the TV sports channels. AR (Augmented Reality) on the other hand has seen Niantic with Pokemon Go become a mainstream hit. Alternative stores catering to the distribution of Gaming apps will also emerge.
Competitive online gaming, or e-sports with over 4 million existing Indian enthusiasts, is yet another driver where localized content creation around global events will bring in new frontiers. Virtual-reality gaming is also a fast-evolving vertical in the country. Digital advertising is forcing companies to look at gaming in a big way, embedding commercials through games.
Artificial Intelligence has given a new dimension to gaming. This means that games developers don’t need to have particularly powerful hardware — they will be able to create assets for games, ranging from story, to animations, and even models quickly, and affordably.
Online gaming laws, however, in India are still evolving and will need to pick up steam urgently to cater to the growing market requirements. Presently the market faces a regulatory challenge since there is no appropriate techno legal framework in place.
To track and leverage these developments and help develop the right ecosystem for growth of this sector, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has formed the “Indian Digital Gaming Society” (IDGS). IDGS will represent, review and engage on behalf of its members to work closely with the Central and State Governments to build a growth platform for the industry. Other focussed activities will include policy and market research; tracking emerging technologies and new opportunities; establish indigenisation and innovation practices besides exploring export potentials.
CII is organizing the India Gaming Show (IGS) 2019, an International Gaming, Animation and Infotainment Exhibition and Conference on 3 – 5 February, 2019 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The show will highlight, showcase and discuss growth areas of the gaming and animation Industry, a paradigm shift in gaming, new technologies and other developments like gamifications, virtual reality and augmented reality while bringing the exposure to a larger audience and prospective gamers.
The coverage will include Games Display & Technology Showcase by large companies; Animation; Gamification; Gaming Zones along with Consumer Section, Cosplay, ESL India Premiership & Amazon Gameon Championship besides stage events to attract large number of visitors to the event.
Some of the leading players who will participate included Play Station, Samsung Monitors, Gigabyte, Amazon, HP, HyperX, Intel, Nodwin Gaming, Playizzon, Western Digital amongst others.
A one day B2B Conference on “Digital Gaming Industry: At the point of inflection” is also planned to deliberate on new age gaming and pave the way forward.