India’s recreation market might develop from $3.8 billion in 2024 to $9.2 billion by 2029, in keeping with a report by Lumikai.
That represents a 20% compound annual progress price. Lumikai, a enterprise capital fund in India targeted on video games, additionally stated that India’s $3.8 billion gaming market is about 30% of its broader $12.5 billion new media market.
Gaming is India’s the fastest-growing new media section, and it’s simply shy of the $3.9 billion video and over-the-top media market (based mostly on the fiscal 12 months intervals ending March 31). General, the brand new media market is rising at a compound annual progress price of 16%, stated Salone Sehgal, founding basic companion at Lumikai, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Such progress is much like China’s progress in gaming a few a long time in the past, making India the subsequent sizzling market that recreation buyers ought to comply with, Sehgal stated. Aditya Deshpande, senior funding affiliate at Lumikai, stated in an interview with GamesBeat. believes that gaming is within the means of surpassing India’s vaunted Bollywood movie business.
Lumikai’s personal progress has mirrored the Indian gaming market’s progress. Again in 2020, when it began, there have been 25 recreation corporations in India. However over the course of 5 years, Lumikai has evaluated greater than 2,300 leads with Indian recreation entrepreneurs, Sehgal stated.
The Lumikai State of India Interactive Media and Gaming Report is being unveiled on the Lumikai Insignia interactive media and gaming summit for Lumikai’s restricted companions.
Key statistics
The report discovered that out of the full of 591 million avid gamers (up 23 million from a 12 months in the past) in India, feminine avid gamers rose from 41% to 44%. And in fiscal 12 months 2024, greater than eight million new paying customers have been added, taking whole paying avid gamers to 148 million.
Sehgal stated Indian avid gamers have seen a 30% improve in common weekly gaming time to 13 hours. That was double the time spent on social platforms. Common income per paying consumer of $22, which was up 15% in a 12 months. About 66% of avid gamers have been from non-metro cities, with 43% of avid gamers being first-time earners within the 18-year-old to 30-year-old age group.
In-app purchases, propelled by mid-core video games, grew by 41% year-on-year, and continues to be the quickest rising slice out of the $3.8 billion income pie for fiscal 12 months 2024.
“The mid core video games emerge to faucet into that very massive mid-core urge for food within the India market,” stated Sehgal.
The report stated 64% of paying customers who play real-money playing (RMG) additionally pay for mid-core video games,
suggesting a excessive diploma of overlap in gamer personas and migrating preferences of avid gamers.
India is the world’s second-largest cell gaming market by way of downloads, with 15.2 billion, or 3 times the mixed quantity of Brazil and the U.S. And 25% of avid gamers stated they’ve spent cash in video games this 12 months, in step with FY23, with 83% preferring UPI or digital wallets to make in-game funds.
India additionally noticed a 20% improve in time spent on informal video games in fiscal 2024. Customers spend 25% extra time on interactive social media/streaming platforms in comparison with passive social platforms. And 47% of customers are ad-tolerant to keep away from paying for subscriptions with choice for micro-transaction based mostly in-app purchases.
When it comes to cell platforms, Android is about 90% of the market in India, the place smartphones could value $200 to $400. Most video games are performed on smartphones, with PC and console video games a couple of p.c of the market, Desphande stated.
As for esports, revenues are nonetheless a small slice of the general pie, however Sehgal stated viewership continues to rise quick.
Methodology
The report consists of major analysis protecting almost 3,000 cell customers throughout India. And it was developed with Google and Deloitte. Lumikai’s evaluation is predicated on third occasion analytics information suppliers, secondary analysis, Lumikai proprietary information, major survey and knowledgeable interviews. The gaming estimates embrace subscription, in-app purcahses, and advert revenues.
“We perceive each the city markets, the agricultural markets and the gender demographics as nicely,” Sehgal stated.
Lumikai’s progress
Lumikai has backed a few of India’s main interactive media corporations together with, Elo Elo (India’s stay social leisure platform), Bombay Play (hyper-social, informal gaming studio from India for the world), All Star Video games (informal sports activities gaming studio), Studio Sirah (mid-core technique gaming studio), Supernova (real-time, interactive, personalised AI tutors disrupting edtech), Autovrse (India’s quickest rising AR/VR firm constructing options for industrial coaching), Vobble (India’s first interactive audio platform for youngsters), Mayhem Studios (constructing Indian battle royale recreation) amongst others.
The Mayhem Studios recreation is fascinating in that it’s a battle royale recreation targeted on Indian setting and tradition. Such tendencies towards culturally related video games for sure areas are on the rise, in keeping with Matthew Ball, gaming analyst and writer of The Metaverse.
“These recreation sort of video games take time to construct. What Battleground Cell India (previously PUBG Cell) taught us is that there’s a large (alternative) available in the market,” Sehgal stated. “Our technique to again Indian video games (resonates) as we more and more right here individuals saying they need to play IP which displays our tradition.”
Despande stated, “There’s extra range by way of indigenous video games attempting to tackle world giants. It’s a matter of simply improvement cycles. So a variety of these video games are actually within the means of being made.”
Most of the entrepreneurs are popping out of work-for-hire corporations that took benefit of India’s low prices for improvement. Now these entrepreneurs are hanging out on their very own to make their very own video games. There are additionally a variety of Indian diaspora founders who’re coming again to India to construct new corporations of their homeland. And there are a wave of strategic corporations and buyers who’re taking a look at India as the subsequent huge main market. Over time, this could result in a wholesome acquisition market in India.
“The smartphone has fully revolutionized the sort of video games individuals play,” stated Deshpande. “Nearly two thirds of the inhabitants that we surveyed consumes one or two gigabytes of cell information a day, and that’s as a result of we have now one of many most cost-effective information charges on the earth.”
Lumikai Insignia
The audio system on the Lumikai Insignia occasion embrace Oscar-winner SS Rajamouli, Abdullah Alorainy from Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (which is investing $37 billion in gaming), Crysis co-creator and Crytek founder Cevat Yerli, chip design veteran Raja Koduri who has led graphics/CPU design at Intel, AMD and Apple.
