Indian gaming market poised to reach $3.9 billion by 2025: Report

The pandemic era has seen huge growth in the gaming segment in the country and the gaming market is estimated to reach USD 3.9 billion by 2025, a report said on Tuesday.

The joint report titled 'Building up the e-gaming ecosystem of India and the influence of smartphones' by industry body IAMAI OnePlus and RedSeer, also noted that the sector is attracting huge investment interest, with nearly USD 1 billion being invested in the last six months.

"India is currently home to over 430 million mobile gamers and the number of gamers is estimated to grow to 650 million by 2025. Currently, mobile gaming dominates the Indian gaming sector, contributing more than 90 per cent to the USD 1.6 billion gaming market and is expected to further grow to generate USD 3.9 billion value by 2025," it said.

The report highlighted that 40 per cent of the hardcore gamers pay for their games with an average spend of Rs 230 per month.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the organic growth of digital games as mobile app downloads grew by 50 per cent and user engagement went up by 20 per cent, it added.

Navnit Nakra, Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of India Sales at OnePlus India, said over the past few years, the e-gaming industry in India has grown tremendously, driven by the rising avenues for digitisation promoted by the flagship initiative of the government, 'Digital India' and improved accessibility centered around innovation and affordability by OEMs.

"At OnePlus, our community has always been at the heart of everything we do and therefore, we have been leading the charge in introducing the most advanced features and have built partnerships with industry leaders to provide a seamless gaming experience on OnePlus smartphones," he added.

Rajen Vagadia, Vice President and President at Qualcomm India underlined that certain efforts are being undertaken to nurture esports and ensure that it is seen as a field that can be taken up professionally as well.