Playing on the 5G success: India's gaming sector set to get a boost

India's gaming user base saw massive growth during the pandemic, but network issues and performance have frustrated many enthusiasts

The imminent rollout of 5G services in India will propel the country's gaming sector to new heights. Armed with the capabilities of consoles and computers, experts believe that smartphones and 5G services will likely fuel the next growth phase of the Indian gaming industry.

India's gaming user base saw huge growth during the pandemic, but network issues and performance have frustrated many enthusiasts. According to experts, 5G can solve all these issues. The country recorded 433 million online gamers in FY21, expected to rise to 657 million by FY25, per a KPMG report. 

The most pivotal benefit of 5G lies in its much higher speed than existing 4G networks. "The two primary advantages of 5G are lower latency and higher bandwidth," says Rajat Bansal, CTO of Games24x7, which achieved unicorn status in March this year. "With 5G, we estimate that speeds should reach around 10 Gbps, nearly 10 to 100 times faster than 4G," he added.

This higher speed will lower latency or input delay, improving gamer immersion. "With 5G, latency will be under five milliseconds compared to 4 G's 60 to 100 milliseconds," said Mihir Sanchala, assistant vice-president, technology, PlayerzPot, a gaming start-up with 10 million users.

Besides the speed, 5G will bring huge impetus for all the upcoming segments of the game, which got a leg-up during the pandemic.

The rapidly gaining popularity of eSports in India is one such example. eSports is contingent upon stable networks and higher bandwidth." 5G services can be a significant boon for our country's nascent eSports industry. Latency of under five milliseconds will substantially improve gaming performance at the competitive level in multiplayer games and also allow gamers to play competitively from anywhere," said All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) CEO Roland Landers.

However, aside from professional players, there also exists a large audience that watches eSports. "5G will give us the ability to stream higher-resolution videos smoothly on mobile phones," said Bansal, adding, "5G allows for a much richer engagement experience in that regard."

In addition, according to a 2022 Techarc report, 100 million smartphone users were added across India in the past three years, crossing 600 million as of 2021. By 2024, annual sales are estimated to cross 200 million. This growth will further drive demand for entertainment like games.

Landers believes that online gaming growth in India has been primarily led by mobile gaming and has mirrored the increase in smartphone adoption. "The trend of smartphone-based gaming growth is likely to continue as the cost of a decent gaming computer is equivalent to the per capita GDP. Even gaming consoles remain unaffordable to most gamers, with prices easily more than Rs 40,000 (approximately $500)," he added.

Cloud Gaming

5G can be a game changer for the industry as players can now opt for cloud gaming, which does away with the need for high-performing computing. "Cloud gaming is still in its infancy, the reason being the network itself. Ultra-low latency and high bandwidth are a prerequisite," said Bansal. 5G will, therefore, enable gamers to shift complex computation and tedious rendering needs to the cloud. Games, which earlier required consoles, would now be able to run on smartphones.

"Cloud gaming is a terrific product which allows gamers to overcome hardware limitations since the cloud remotely provides access to high-quality gaming hardware. Indian gamers will be able to experience hardware-intensive games on even low-end affordable smartphones with 5G connectivity," said Landers.

Rapid technological advancements have made integrating immersive technology into games much more commonplace. Web3 and metaverse gaming are products of this trend. With blockchain technology, gamers can enjoy a gamut of benefits, such as ownership of in-game assets, play-to-earn and improved personalisation. A higher 5G bandwidth will likely also spark the incorporation of AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) into upcoming games.

"Gaming in the metaverse will be an immersive virtual reality-based experience. High speeds provided by 5G services coupled with VR or AR hardware would be necessary to maintain the required level of immersion," said Landers.

"While the cost of VR hardware is prohibitive in India, the expenses involved are expected to reduce soon. 5G will certainly remove limitations around connectivity and help encourage game publishers to increase the VR/AR component in their future game releases," he added.

Unlocking Tier-2 and Tier-3 Cities

With faster internet and affordable smartphones comes the potential for expansion. Given the rising popularity of mobile games, the growth of the industry in tier 2 and tier 3 cities seems promising.

"We have already started witnessing gaming take off in Indian rural areas and tier-2 and -3 cities, thanks to improved internet coverage. The 5G rollout will likely continue this trend by leveraging its superior experience," said Landers.

According to Bansal, the impact of 5G may be more pronounced in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. "These areas will contribute more to the incremental growth of the gaming industry. Since 4G is prevalent in tier-1 cities, the difference in speed will be much more apparent in the rural belt," said Bansal.

Way Forward

5G, therefore, has the potential to revolutionise the gaming sector in India. "Provided 5G remains an affordable service, Indian gamers will immensely benefit from the generational improvements and new use cases, that 5G can enable for the mobile gaming industry, relating to low latency, high download and upload speeds, cloud gaming, and virtual/augmented reality," said Landers.

However, 5G is just another arrow in the quiver of game publishers. According to Bansal, real growth in the sector will be driven by content, whether skill-based or casual gaming. "We are looking into leveraging this increased speed and bandwidth to create more engaging content and are aiming to integrate web3 and other immersive elements into our games."