India’s eSports industry has turned its focus towards a new roster of games to continue its operations after the government’s ban on popular gaming titles for phones. The government had banned South Korean publisher Krafton Inc’s PUBG Mobile and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) in September 2020 and July 2022, respectively. It had also banned a competing title called Garena’s Freefire in February this year.
At the time they were banned, the three games were drawing lakhs in terms of in-app purchases for users, tournament sponsorships from brands and prize money in tournaments. Now, this money is going towards games like Valorant, Pokemon Unite, Call of Duty Mobile and more. Even some Indian titles, like World Cricket Championship (WCC) and Real Cricket are gaining interest, according to experts.
Before the ban in July, BGMI was the biggest gaming title in eSports in India with prize pools running as high as ₹1.5 crore for a single tournament. Anurag Khurana, CEO of Penta Esports, said Pokemon Unite tournaments usually have a prize pool of ₹1-2 lakhs, and this is a big leap from that. Other titles raking in the cash include US-based Activision’s Call of Duty Mobile, a key reason for the company’s ongoing acquisition by Microsoft.
The gaming industry has also evolved and more gamers are playing on PC. Some of the Valorant tournaments in India are now rivaling the viewership that BGMI and PUBG used to get,” said Rushindra Sinha, CEO of Global Esports, which owns its own eSports teams. Industry experts also said that having a multi-game strategy is good for the long-term growth of the industry. Penta Esports’ Khurana pointed out every game has a lifecycle and companies shouldn’t depend on a single title, irrespective of bans.
Penta itself is considering games like Japanese Capcom’s Street Fighter and some racing games for its next eSports tournaments. “Even some indigenous titles like WCC and Real Cricket are doing very well in mobile eSports,” added Khurana. WCC and Real Cricket are made by Indian gaming firms Nextwave Multimedia and Nautilus, respectively.
Animesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of gaming marketing consultancy 8bit Creatives, concurred with Khurana, adding that the industry has been exploring newer esports titles to develop and sustain revenue growth for Indian gaming. To be sure, the BGMI and PUBG Tournaments had hit tens of crores at their peak, and there’s still a big gulf against current titles. However, the same is starting to reduce. The Indian eSports industry is expected to see more tournaments featuring multiple games.
The Indian gaming market’s growth could be negatively impacted in 2023 due to the 2022 ban on Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), according to market research and consulting firm Niko Partners. South Korean developer Krafton’s BGMI, one of the most popular battle royale games, was banned in July this year by the Indian government over alleged safety and privacy concerns. According to Niko Partners, as a consequence of the ban, the Indian gaming market growth could be lower than expected in 2023.
But despite this ban, India’s PC and mobile gaming markets will continue to grow, with the number of gamers in 2022 expected to double from 396.4 million to 630 million in 2026. Gamers across both segments are expected to spend $704.5 million in 2022, and that amount is predicted to rise to $1.4 billion in the year 2026. The report does not include the figures from the real money games (RMG) market, which comprises card games cards like Poker and Rummy, and Fantasy sports.
India is the fastest-growing market in Asia in terms of gamers and revenue, adds the report. Currently, the country stands second to China in the total number of gamers. The report also found that Indian gamers spend 14.1 hours per week on mobile, with the country having the highest proportion of gamers who play over 5 hours per week. The fact that data costs are the lowest in the world in the country with 5G on the way also helps boost numbers.
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