New gaming titles to dominate growth for India's gaming sector: Survey

The development of new intellectual properties (IPs), followed by better monetisation of existing ones, and international expansion would remain priority areas for India’s gaming and esports sector in 2025, according to a survey.

 

The survey by AFK Gaming said that new gaming titles would drive 60 per cent growth for companies, with the remaining being contributed by investments.

 

However, competition from international studios, monetisation strategies, talent acquisition and retention, access to funding, and limited access to global markets continue to remain as major challenges for the gaming industry in the country.

 

The survey added that 6 out of 10 respondents remain confident in Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI)’s dominance. The rest of the respondents anticipate competing games, including Free Fire and Valorant, to take on BGMI.

 

Seven out of 10 industry stakeholders and company leaders believe that local themes, languages, and culturally resonant content may determine the success of Indian games in 2025.

 

High quality graphics and production, and strong storytelling along with a unique gameplay would remain key development areas for gaming companies in the current year.

 

That said, a lack of infrastructure and reduced brand spending continue to cause problems to the sector. This is followed by regulatory issues, and low engagement outside the country’s metros.

 

This comes at a time when Indian real money games (RMG) firms are reeling from a 28 per cent blanket tax on online gaming. Skill gaming platforms earlier paid 18 per cent GST on platform fees, also known as Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). The new rules, which do not make a distinction between games of skill or chance, came into effect on October 1, 2023.

 

At present, India’s gaming sector has three unicorns — Games24x7, Dream11, and Mobile Premier League (MPL).