The gaming market in India is still at a nascent stage, when compared to the South East Asian gaming markets like China, Philippines and Thailand, but given the fact that India has a large population, especially youth who form a major chunk of the population, it definitely signals a big growth potential for the India market.
“Gaming is a very compelling brand of entertainment in India and, with the current rate of technological innovation, there’s a huge potential for this industry. The Industry has gradually picked up the momentum and today we are seeing customers appreciating and demanding specialized gaming PCs which cost much more than the conventional laptop. We foresee massive opportunities in Indian gaming market as India has world’s largest youth population, thus is poised to become one of the world’s leading markets in the Gaming Sector,”says Chandrahas Panigrahi, CMO and Consumer Business Head, Acer India.
Going by market estimates, the Indian Gaming Industry is estimated for the annual growth rate of 14.3 per cent with mobile Gaming taking the lead at 71% share. With more people playing games on smartphone, the base is growing and many of these smartphone gamers are expected to move into more serious gaming in the PC in coming times.
So what factors are driving the gaming industry in India?
E-sports and exposure to global gaming events and LAN gaming is enhancing the gaming experience for Indians. Furthermore, factors like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) are also beginning to push the boundaries higher. The industry is now advancing from casual to serious gamers and so companies like Acer sees a massive scope to reach out to a bulk of untapped gamers across Tier I and Tier II cities.
Indian gamers are also beginning to accept gaming as a profession and not just as a distracting hobby for their sons/daughters.
“Till just a couple of years back, the gaming community in India was deeply fragmented. But with continuous efforts, we are now accepted as a gaming nation on the global map. The fact remains that India got to professional gaming stage much later but comparing Indian Gaming to the world isn’t right yet. What is rather important to note is, India is one of the fastest growing gaming market in terms of the ecosystem, investments and strength of the community. In our view, Gaming has shown its potential in other countries and India has shown its readiness to make this as a star industry,” states Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director, HyperX India.
Says Burri Siddhartha Reddy, Co-Founder – 2Pi Interactive, “Indian mobile gamers are yet to experience the new games that have taken the world of gaming to the next level, by and large in terms of content. But I believe, there is a huge potential in India. However, one has to crack the content suitable to Indian players, by content I do not mean games like Teen Patti or Rummy, but Indian developers need to explore more on the Indian user need and hit the market with the content they can connect to.”
2Pi Interactive believes that India is yet to witness and experience the new content, provided there is a developer who takes up this challenge up their sleeves and drives into the gaming space. “There are definitely few smart indies who have tried their hands on the new content, but many among them faced the challenge of pushing it to the end user,” says Burri. “Nevertheless, I see Reliance playing quite a role by partnering with few game development companies abroad and there is Nazara, one publisher who never get to develop a game by themselves by always eye on the key game developers in India who wish to get their games published through Nazara.
2Pi’s recent launch “Tangled Up!” is a game which it proudly announces it as a unique casual puzzle game. Besides mobile space and PC through few reputed publishers, it has also launched “Tangled Up!” on Steam by Valve Corp. “We were able to successfully launch the game on steam catering to its 12%-20% of casual game players on a global scale,” says a proud Burri.
Vishal cited that the Indian Gaming Industry is a group of groups or has multiple stakeholders which interact with each other to grow. These comprise of endemic Gaming brands like HyperX, NVIDIA, HP and LG, Premium Gaming Cafes like LXG and Havoc Nation, Quality Platform (Tournament) developers and curators like Nodwin and LXG, and of course the Channel, both online and offline.
Gaming while travelling…
While gaming is slowly catching up, what is also on the rise is the number of mobile gamers, who have found out gaming as a favorite pastime to pass off their long travel time and eventually the demand for portable gaming devices. Right from hand-held consoles to laptops and mobile gaming software, providing a comfortable and an enhanced gaming experience is what every gaming vendor is looking at today.
So the next time you are travelling, if you plan to indulge in gaming to kill off boredom during the long travel hours, make sure you have any of the three gaming options handy (mentioned below) to keep you entertained thoroughly –
- Gaming laptops
It is not very long enough that brands like Acer, Lenovo, HP Inc., Dell have started seeing a huge potential for gaming laptops in India. Replies Chandrahas, “The hardware playing a prime role, the performance gap between desktops and laptops is narrowing down. As the hardware components are becoming more compact and powerful day-by-day, this is making laptops lighter, sleeker and compact. Gaming laptops have come a long way and with each passing day, they are becoming as powerful as desktops. Our Predator and Nitro range has captured the hearts of gamers and made us No.1 across laptop, desktop and monitors in gaming segment. 2018 will be a year to aim for further growth and increase the gap to our competition,” he says.
A couple of factors like weight, size and noise that were a major challenge earlier are now being steamed out and this is what is helping gamers to carry their gaming laptops even when they are on the go.
Then there are other brands like Dell (its Inspiron series), HP Inc (Omen series), Lenovo (Legion series), Asus (ROG series) that are slowly capturing the imagination of thousands of Indian gamers.
Along with the laptop, gaming accessories like headsets, keyboards, mice, mouse pads can take the gaming experience to a different level, even when you are traveling. Brands like Kingston, Viewsonic, Corsair are some of the names to reckon with when it comes to accessories.
Being a hardcore gamer’s brand, HyperX designs its gaming products with gamers being the focus. “We are primarily a gaming tech brand and try to commercially make new technology available as early as possible. Recently, we launched our HyperX Cloud Revolver S headset, HyperX Alloy Elite and HyperX Alloy Pro keyboards which have been the most appreciated by the media and gamers,” says Vishal.
- Gaming via Smartphone
Along with the PC, there is also a platform that is already getting bigger – Mobile Gaming. This is creating multiple opportunities for all the stakeholders to grow and improve the gaming community. While a decade or two ago, the Game Boy used to be the only option for commuters, in today’s time there are hundreds of gaming options to choose from – Monument Valley, Device 6 (available only on iOS platform), Chrono Trigger – everything right in front on your smartphone screen.
- Handheld gaming devices
It’s not just smartphones, but handheld gaming devices are also slowly gaining prominence for gamers today. Gaming consoles like PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch offer a lot of different options to mobile gamers and has become an add-on to their gaming experience. So whether you are commuting to your office or going on a trip (and provided you are not the one behind the wheels), these can be a great gaming companion.
-Samrita
