Indias gaming market dominated by mobile games with revenue of $150 mn: report

The increasing numbers of smartphone users are fueling the mobile gaming market in India. Approximately 40 to 50 million people play games on their smartphones and feature phones, with an annual growth rate of 40 per cent to 50 per cent. Mobile gaming revenues are currently estimated at $150 million across all revenue models, said a report from Nasscom.

According to the report, though the mobile gamers lead the market in India, the console market size, is estimated to be around three to four million gamers, with 3-3.5 million of lifetime sales for all consoles including PlayStation 2 (2 million) and 100,000 units for PlayStation 4 and XBox One combined. The findings are part of the 'Indian Games Market Review' report released at the Nasscom Gaming Developer Conference 2015.

The cyber cafe market is currently estimated at 3,000 cafes in India with games, of which 1,500 have five machines or more dedicated to games. It's estimated that there are 250,000 active PC/MMO players, with popular games including Counterstrike, DOTA, League of Legends and World of Tanks.

On the content creation side, the report outlines a young industry that has changed dramatically in the last five years and now includes over 200 games development studios and service providers. "One of the biggest change that the industry has seen is the maturity in teams and the quality of teams that are now coming out," said Rajesh Rao, chairman of Nasscom Gaming Council.

The advent of self-publishing, investment and crowdfunding, has led to a new breed of agile indie developers, whose focus is on mobile and PC social games. More than half of Indian game developers and service providers were established from 2012 onwards and the industry follows a lean structure, with 57 per cent of companies having less than 10 employees and in 2014, 27 per cent of all Indian game developers and service providers had revenues of above $1.6 million. The report further states that, 75 per cent of Indian developers are focused on building games for the global gaming market. About 96 per cent of developers work on mobile games, with 61 per cent of those building free-to-play games. Among studios, arcade games are the most popular genre, followed by puzzle and racing releases.

"The report provides a road map to start-up's, Indies and investors based on internet usage patterns, mobile smartphones and tablets, to digital media and mobile advertising," R Chandrashekhar, President, Nasscom.

Currently most game developers and service providers in India are focused on the global market, with development, game art services and animation being the main sources of revenue. Approximately 9 per cent generate revenue from the domestic market, while foreign games dominate the app store rankings. With recent developments such as Apple and Google lowering the minimum price for apps and in-app purchases in India, the report expects more Indian companies to turn their focus towards the Indian market in the future.