Gaming in India poised for Tremendous Growth

Gaming in India is at its nascent stage. People are discovering a whole new world waiting to be explored. With 60% youth population, it makes India a very exciting market to be in right now and we have witnessed significant changes over the last few years. It is found that the Indian gaming industry has started spreading its influence across platforms, evolved new business models and emerged as the prominent sunrise industry in the country. The gaming industry has witnessed a steady growth, marking an 8-per cent share of the outsourcing industry. However, a considerable amount of increase in the number of overseas expansion of Indian companies, introduction of new technologies in the gaming circuit and investments from private equity funds have been major reasons for the growth of the Indian gaming industry. According to Rajiv Vaishnav, Vice-President, NASSCOM, “A significant rise in the penetration of personal computers and mobile phones has added to this growth.” 

 

Rajiv Vaishnav Vice President NASSCOM	Anshu Mor Business Group Lead, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft Corporation (India)	Vishal Dhupar Managing Director NVIDIA South Asia	Alok Sharma M&E head, Autodesk India & SAARC

The gaming industry is constantly evolving with the introduction of new technologies, resulting in demand for new innovations from customers and India is being recognized globally for its significant contribution. Some games created by Indian app developers which have grabbed the limelight and awards include Huebrix by Yellow Monkey Studios, Circlets by Hashstash, Bingo Bash by BitRhymes, Real Steel by Reliance Games and many more. 

 

Reasons behind dwarf growth in Indian Gaming industry

One of the key challenges being faced by the Indian gaming developers is the stiff competition from international content which often tends to have better quality. So it is important to have localized content. The lack of casual games based on the Indian environment, society, lifestyle and culture also inhibits the adoption in the tier-II and tier-III cities. Majority of the games available today are based on international themes and story-lines and evoke limited interest from the Indian consumers.

Anoop Kumar Sr. General Manager Simmtronics Semiconductors Ltd.

Ajay Koul  Head – Component Business AMD India

Kevan Li, Business Head - India, Antec Inc

Also, the absence of viable alternative payments mechanisms for online and mobile-based games has hindered innovation by game developers. Moreover, infrastructure-related issues like high cost of consoles, non-availability of adequate bandwidth also is an area that needs to be looked into.

Another factor that is significant here is content development. The Indian gaming industry comprises many mid-sized to small-sized players. However, there is scarcity of content development and distribution. Content localization can also play a vital role in the industry. Giving his opinions on the same, Anoop Kumar, Sr. General Manager, Simmtronics Semiconductors, comments, “In India, the technology came a little late due to which it is taking some time for gaming penetration in India. With internet and data services penetrating deeply, gaming will also evolve. Smartphone and tablets are handling the hardware part of the gaming and softwares like Android and ITunes is making the games reach to the masses.”

So, it is clear that there is a need to take some significant initiatives to make the Indian gaming industry flour. Under the umbrella of NASSCOM Gaming Forum (NGF), it has undertaken several initiatives like the Game Developers Conference that aims towards creating a market place, a knowledge sharing platform and a forum to get the best of the global gaming industry and discover India's true potential in the gaming sector.

 

Opportunities ahead for Indian Gaming Industry

India offers a huge pool of talent to the global IT industry which plays a substantial role in the development of quality games at reasonably lower costs. Alok Sharma, M&E Head, Autodesk India & SAARC, opines, “India is lucrative for game development because of the cost advantage it offers. The Indian gaming industry can take advantage of the present global economic environment as it offers significant cost rationalization to the game production houses while maintaining the highest standards of quality and creativity.” 

Specifically, multi-player and interactive gaming in India are poised for tremendous growth. As consumers start gaming more and more, they look for more interactive gaming and want to engage and compete with other gamers. That is exactly what Microsoft offers with Xbox Live. They have a vibrant community of hardcore gamers who love to test their skills against the best in the world. Additionally, Xbox 360 doubles up as a one-stop entertainment device that connects people to their friends and helps interact socially. For example, for people who really want to take live chatting to another level, there is the Video Kinect feature that allows Xbox users to video chat with their Xbox Live friends using their console. Throwing some more light on this, Anshu Mor, Business Group Lead, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft Corporation (India), comments, “Multi-player gaming and social gaming are two areas that offer huge potential. As Indians, we are a very social people, and Kinect brings this to the fore as it helps families come together and bond over games. Apart from that, a lot of schools are using Kinect today as an educational aid since this is an interactive and engaging way to impart knowledge.” 

With its existing IT infrastructure and talent, India can be a dominant player in the global games production segment. Talent is a strong pillar for India that helps in delivering high-quality work and acts as a driving factor to increase our outsourcing pie in the international gaming market. Kevan Li, Business Head – India, Antec Inc., opines that he expects to see a rapid ongoing growth for the gaming industry in India and it has reflected the growth in demand for higher-end components to meet the expectations for a better PC gaming experience. 

The use of mobile phones and broadband can additionally contribute to strong market currents for the Indian gaming industry to ride on. The Internet & Mobile Association of India estimates that 50% of India’s mobile users have access to gaming content on their devices. These numbers are expected to rise amid increased penetration of smartphones and tablets, soon leaping ahead of console gaming, which constitutes a large chunk of the gaming pie in India. 

Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director, NVIDIA South Asia, expressed his views. He said, “We have seen the launch of various low to midrange phones, promising to be entertainment powerhouses. Recently, NVIDIA collaborated with LAVA to launch the XOLO Play T1000, powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor, which brings console grade gaming experience to a mobile device.” 

To take the Indian gaming industry to newer horizons, there is a need to explore newer genres like e-learning games where there might be a significant opportunity, in addition to games based on regional languages. Development of women-centric online and on-mobile games such as based on TV soaps, which have a huge fan following, is another area. 

One exciting possibility is cloud gaming and the emergence of Gaming-as-a-Service (GaaS). As far as Nvidia is concerned, it offers Nvidia Grid that allows gaming enthusiasts to take their favourite games anywhere and play them across any device. However, with the emergence of cloud gaming, Indian gamers can play their favourite titles, anywhere, anytime, on any device. 

Promoting PC Gaming Cafes, gaming tournaments and strengthening of power and IT infrastructure will aid the industry too. This is a huge opportunity for AMD, especially since AMD is into making graphics as well as processors. While AMD already has a headstart over competition in the graphics businesses with a dominant market share in discrete graphic. Putting some light into this, Ajay Koul, Head – Component Business, AMD India, says, “We have got a clean sweep, won all gaming consoles – with Microsoft Xbox, Play Station 4 with Sony, and Nintendo-Wii, U. The capability of combining the compute and graphic ability together in a single solution by AMD remains unparalleled. A lot of people are looking at India as the next big gaming destination and with our console wins, AMD will further enhance its presence in this market and boost its image among the youth.” The Indian consumer is looking for the experience of interaction with the device they use – the gaming, the movies, the high-definition, the experience. This is the kind of leadership that users are going to see at AMD as they move forward.

 

Finally…

For an all-round development of the gaming industry, it is important to consider not only gamers and consumers but also streamline and improve the development and distribution of games. The future of gaming industry is bright! And all the players in the ecosystem need to focus on larger mandates of skill development as well as to continue to shape attitudes towards gaming. 

satinder@varindia.com