Exploring Story Opportunity - India's mobile gaming contributes to 90% of the gaming market as compared to 37% in the USA and 62% in China says India Gaming Report 2024 -

India is the fastest-growing mobile gaming market, with 17% of world’s user base and over 9.5 Billion app downloads.

Please find below the key findings of the report:

India’s total mobile game downloads exceed the total downloads of the next two Markets – the US, and Brazil – Put together.

In just four years, from 2019 to 2023, game downloads in India soared from 5.65 billion to a staggering 9.5 billion. This growth propelled India’s share of global game downloads to a substantial 16% in 2023, followed by Brazil and the US with 4.5 billion (7.6% market share) and 4.4 billion (7.4% market share) downloads, respectively.

India boasts a massive, engaged consumer base of ~568 million gamers. India is home to approximately 15,000 game developers and programmers.

The Indian gaming industry comprises over 1400 gaming companies, including 500 gaming studios. The annual revenue for gaming is projected to reach $6 billion by 2028.

Number of Indian gaming companies has grown from 25 in 2015 to over 900 gaming development companies in 2023 indicating continued stronger potential in the sector.

144 mn users paid for games in 2023 and the number of paying gamers is expected to reach 240 mn by 2028.

Gaming companies in India witnessed a 10X surge in investments between 2018 and 2021. 2021 stood out as the most significant year in terms of attracting investments with over USD 1.7 bn in investments.

Indian gaming companies have raised close to $3Bn since 2017. The Indian gaming market is set to witness as many as 10 unicorns and 5 decacorns by 2028.

Mobile gaming contributes to 90% of the gaming market in India as compared to ~37% and ~62% in the US and China, respectively.

By 2028, more than 80% of India will have access to the Internet on the back of the access to low-cost data, deepening penetration of smartphones, massive appetite for data, and proactive and conducive policy focus.

In 2012, India accounted for 2% of global mobile data traffic; as of 2022, its share shot to 21%. The data consumption was around 30.7 GB/ user per month in 2023 and is expected to more than double by 2028 to 68.5 GB/user per month, as purchasing power, smartphone penetration, 5G use, and rural penetration grow.

Digital transactions in India have grown at a tremendous 45% CAGR in the last 5 years (by volume of transactions).

The number of smartphone users in India has increased to over 820 million; driven by strong demand from tier 2-5 cities and increasing affordability of high-quality smartphones. ~60% of Indians own a smartphone and can access digital games from app stores.

The RAM of smartphones has increased by 3-4x in the past five years. This has led to the advanced gaming storage capacity of mobiles, enabling users to store larger, complex games, and encouraging developers to build games with better graphics.

Introduction of vernacular languages and Indian themes on various apps
and games are expanding the addressable user base to non-English speaking clusters. As per the Government of India, 65% of the country’s 1.4 bn population lives in rural areas. The double-digit growth in internet penetration bodes well for the digital economy, including online gaming. India has a large monetizable vernacular user base which is estimated at 400 million (in 2023).

Gaming has a higher adoption rate amongst the younger population in India with the 18-30 age group being highly engaged users of gaming. 68% of India is below 35 years of age.

In 2023, online gaming employed over 100,000 skilled gaming professionals directly and indirectly. The sector is expected to add over 250,000 more jobs in the next decade.

India’s competitive gaming scene has experienced an extraordinary surge, with the number of professional players catapulting from a mere 100 in 2019 to an impressive 500 by 2023. This number is expected to grow by 2.5X over the next five years on the back of recognition by the Government of esports and various state government-led initiatives to develop talent around esports.

Within the Indian gaming industry, a direct workforce of approximately 60,000 individuals contributes to its dynamism. Notably, 30% of this workforce, amounting to ~18,000 professionals, comprise skilled programmers and developers.

More than ~300 educational institutions in India offer specialized courses & degrees in game design, development, and management, showcasing the country’s commitment to grooming future gaming professionals.

The Indian gaming sector is presently witnessing a surge in demand for talent, with job openings ranging from 50,000 to 60,000 across various roles, including developers, programmers, testers/ artists, and customer support.

India’s gaming talent pool, currently numbering over 100,000 professionals, is celebrated for its exceptional cost-effectiveness, offering significant advantages to companies seeking to optimize their gaming development and operational budgets.

On average, game development costs in India can be up to 50-60% lower than those in Western countries, making it an exceptionally attractive outsourcing destination.

India’s gaming content creation community has exploded, boasting of a staggering 300,000 creators and streamers. They have a captive audience of over ~600 million users. Such growth in content creation is a testament to the ever-expanding diversity and dynamism of this talent pool.

Approximately 40% of the gaming populace in India comprises women, and this demographic demonstrates a predilection towards casual and hyper-casual gaming experiences. Until three years ago, only one in five gamers in India were women.

In-app purchases are projected to grow at the highest rate at ~35% CAGR; with the rise of paying users across casual and core genres.

With the Indian Esports industry on course to accomplish numerous milestones this year, this is to check if we can explore a story opportunity for our below-mentioned Esports & gaming clients who can shed more insights on these wide topics:

1. Esports Federation of India

Spokesperson: Mr. Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF)

ESFI is a full member of the International Esports Federation (IESF), Global Esports Federation (GEF), and Asian Esports Federation (AESF)

2. 8bit Creatives, India’s leading Esports consulting and talent agency

Spokesperson: Mr. Animesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, 8Bit Creatives

With some of India’s top gaming talents in their line-up and backed with experience and exposure of collaborating and curating campaigns with 100+ top-notch brands like Netflix, Coca-cola, Reliance Digital, Mx Players, OnePlus, Realme Narzo, Flipkart, Airtel, and many others; 8Bit Creatives boasts of managing popular and renowned gaming content creators and influencers- Mortal, Scout, Mavi, Snax, Thug, Payal, Kaashvi, 8bit Goldy, 8bit Sid to name a few.

S8UL is the only Indian Esports organization to win at the global Esports Awards and has done so multiple times by securing the prestigious ‘Esports Content Creator of the Year’ recently. Having also won the inaugural ‘Global Impact on Mobile Gaming’ award at the MOBIES earlier this year, the organization has elevated the stature of Indian Esports worldwide. Moreover, team SOUL has also roped in iQOO as its exclusive title sponsor, marking the first time that an Esports organization in the country secured a high-profile title sponsorship with a mobile manufacturer that extends beyond individual tournaments.

3. Ampverse, Asia’s largest ecosystem of gaming communities and IPs

Spokesperson: Mr. Ashwin Haryani, Country Head of Ampverse, India

Established in 2019, Ampverse takes pride in its well-established model that is laser-focused on the management and operation of top-tier Esports teams across Asia. With its presence in five countries, Ampverse is committed to nurturing and propelling the best of the best in the dynamic world of competitive gaming. They have successfully built a community of over 600 million and own seven IPs.

Related posts: