DNA exclusive: How much money are Indians spending on gaming? IGDC convenor Rajesh Rao tells

Over the past few years, gaming has gained a solid foothold in India's entertainment industry. With factors like rise in active internet users, youth population and rapid urbanization, most analysts predict an exponential growth in the Indian gaming industry. As per a recent report by The Power of Mobile Gaming in India’ released by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Kantar IMRB in association POKKT, India is among the five biggest mobile gaming markets in the world.

Gaming has become one of India's most exciting industries, with more and more investment from both companies and consumers every year. More so, most Indians prefer gaming on a mobile device instead of traditional gaming consoles. This has prompted game developers to adapt to the mobile ecosystem for a complete gaming experience. Adding to the excitement is the rapid rise of interactive mobile gaming apps and skill-based real money gaming platform. 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the India Game Developer Conference 2020, a major event driven entirely with volunteers from across the Indian games industry and with active support from companies in the ecosystem, was held virtually this year. The event saw participation from over 100 speakers and was free for all to attend. DNA got the opportunity to interact with Rajesh Rao, Convenor of IGDC 2020 where he highlighted how the Indian gaming industry is going through a major shift in terms of infrastructure, content, and revenue. Excerpts from the interaction:

Question: How much is India prepared for online gaming with slow and limited internet?

Rajesh Rao: India is predominantly a mobile games market. Thanks to the rapid growth of 4G subscribers in the last 2 years, internet limitations are a thing of the past.

Question: Indians have a habit of freeloading and they wouldn't generally spend money on gaming. What can be the ways out to overcome this hurdle?

Rajesh Rao: We are seeing people beginning to pay as games become a mainstream social activity. India's games market is now generating between Rs 7,500 to Rs 10,000 crores in revenues, more than half coming from card-based games, and another quarter coming from fantasy games like Dream 11. So clearly, Indians have embraced playing for winning in skill-based games. Casual games are also beginning to make money.

Question: Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for developing games inspired by Indian culture and folk tales. Do we see that happening anytime soon?

Rajesh Rao: This is bound to happen, in a country where every major form of entertainment - be it movies, TV, music and radio, is dominated by Indian content. Indians love content with Indian social and cultural context, so I can't see why games will be any different.  The Atmanirbhar initiative will spur investments into high-quality local teams that can produce such content.

Question: With more people staying indoors during the lockdown, how did COVID-19 affect the gaming industry?

Rajesh Rao: It has given a huge fillip to the industry. All the top games in India are seeing the number of people playing go up exponentially. This has accelerated the process of making games mainstream by at least a year if not more.

Question: With reference to Centre's ban on PUBG and Rummy by Andhra Pradesh government, what are the challenges that game developers face specifically with Indian users?

Rajesh Rao: PUBG was one among the many foreign apps that were banned by the Indian government citing security issues. The Andhra ban is different, I see there the need for the Indian gaming industry to invest in engaging with regulators and governments to educate them about the industry. The Supreme court has held that games like Rummy are games of skill. 

Question: What new innovations in gaming can we expect in India in the next two years?

Rajesh Rao: I think we are in a phase of rapid consumer adoption of games, and game developers are learning quickly by analysing user behaviour. We will certainly see a lot more local content with Indian social and cultural context, we will see innovative business models.