MUMBAI: Connected TVs will be the newest gaming screens noted the FICCI EY Report.
The rapid expansion of Connected TVs to over 40 million households, supported by growth in wired and FWA home broadband, is making Connected TVs an emerging gaming surface in India, extending gaming beyond personal devices into shared/ family living room environments.
The report expects gaming to be increasingly bundled with broadband services to meet this need. Early traction is expected across hyper-casual and casual formats, including party, trivia and social play experiences, where simple mechanics, instant playability and multi-user participation align well with family viewing behavior and remote or second-screen control interfaces (since many of India’s low-end Connected TVs have limited gaming-grade hardware). As content studios continue to invest in interactivity around their reality and fiction content, Connected TV gaming could evolve into a complementary channel for content discovery, monetisation and audience expansion. Over time, this could unlock new advertising and brand integration opportunities, combining television-scale reach with interactive engagement.
With money gaming structurally curtailed under the current regulatory framework, video games and esports will drive the segment going forward. Cumulatively, video games and esports are projected to grow from Rs. 63 billion in 2025 to Rs. 92 billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 13% supported by genre realignment, infrastructure maturity, growth in per capita income and evolving player preferences— all of which will collectively support sustainable IAP expansion. This marks a structural shift in India’s gaming revenue mix towards play-led, content-driven ecosystems, which will accelerate investment in mid-core, hybrid casual and esports.
Alternative monetisation pathways will emerge: In-app monetisation avenues will see significant innovation over the next three years as game publishers and brands collaborate on content-led messaging and engagement. The report expects to see new and improved ad formats such as interactive advertising, embedded ingame branding, live and exclusive online events, community activities and branded gameplay elements.
Monetisation will cover the entire value chain— from game elements, gameplay, interactivity, social features, and real-world opportunities across events, merchandise and community action.
India will become a global gaming export hub: India’s gaming ecosystem is progressively shifting from a primarily domestic consumption market to a development hub serving global publishers and platforms. This transition is being supported by a growing pool of skilled talent across engineering, art, animation, live operations and quality assurance, combined with cost competitiveness.
Sony is spotlighting India’s premium development potential through its India Hero Project, green-lighting India-developed PS5 titles such as Bloody Boots and Lokko, signaling confidence in locally built console content that can resonate with global audiences. An increasing number of Indian studios are now engaged in global co-development, live-service support and original IP creation Rockstar India, a subsidiary of Rockstar Games, is one of the largest global contributors to the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI, with over 1,600 developers supporting world building and environment creation, underscoring India’s expanding role in high end AAA co-development and distributed game production.
The stress currently being felt by global game developers due to a slowdown in revenues and gamer growth to just 2% to 6% in 2025 has resulted in over 45,000 game developer layoffs worldwide. This is gradually shifting game development and game management services to lower-cost countries such as Mexico, China, Turkey and India.
Over the medium term, this evolution positions online gaming as a meaningful contributor to India’s digital exports, strengthening the country’s role within the global AVGC ecosystem and driving employment across high-value creative and technical functions
Publishing partnerships will increase: The report expects that large gaming companies will reinvent game publishing in India. They will leverage their captive audiences across f irst-party, second-party and third-party games. Publishing models will emerge across cost-plus, fixed-fee and commission-based or a combination of the three.
The hybrid casual category will emerge: A structurally important category is emerging between casual and mid-core formats, referred to as hybrid casual, combining low-friction entry mechanics with deeper progression systems, live operations and monetization layers.
These titles retain the accessibility and broad appeal of casual games, while embedding meta systems such as upgrades, social competition and event-driven loops that extend retention and lifetime value.
Hybrid casual formats are expected to become a critical bridge between mass-scale user acquisition and sustainable monetisation, enabling developers to transition casual audiences into more engaged long-term players without the steep learning curves of traditional mid-core titles. Given India’s large casual base and rising appetite for depth and social play, the report believes that the hybrid casual genre is likely to attract increasing design, publishing and investment focus in the coming years.
Console and premium gaming will grow: Console and premium gaming are gradually evolving into an aspirational category in India, driven by rising disposable incomes, improved hardware availability and increasing exposure to global gaming franchises that showcase advanced narrative, quality and immersion.
Recent device and platform initiatives are expected to deepen awareness and accessibility of premium gaming experiences: In 2025, manufacturers launched handheld consoles in India such as the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, bringing portable access to PC and Xbox libraries.
The official rollout of Xbox Cloud Gaming in India allows high-fidelity titles to be streamed across smartphones, PCs and smart TVs32 These developments position premium gaming not only as a lifestyle product for urban consumers but also as a meaningful gift and aspirational category beyond traditional mobile play.
While the overall scale of console gaming will remain more limited than mobile gaming, this segment is expected to play a disproportionate role in shaping player expectations around production quality, storytelling depth and immersive experiences, and serve as an important benchmark for India’s premium gaming evolution.
Esports will revive: Despite a slowdown in 2025, esports is expected to rebound strongly from 2026 onwards. Several factors are set to drive this recovery: Esports is now officially recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS), placing it on par with traditional sports within national policy frameworks. The Promotion & Regulation of Online Gaming Act (PROGA) establishes India’s first structured regulatory framework for skill-based gaming and esports—critical for unlocking sponsorship, facilitating visas, formalising athlete status and supporting international participation Esports has been featured as a demonstration discipline at Khelo India events, signaling earlystage integration into India’s broader sporting ecosystem.
State-backed tournaments have also taken place across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan and Chennai. In 2025, Indian players achieved global recognition, with Ved Bamb becoming India’s f irst-ever esports world champion at the Pokémon GO World Championship, building the aspirational value of esports. State-level initiatives are expected to catalyze further investment by enabling structured growth pathways, talent development and deeper community engagement, collectively laying the foundation for a more organised and scalable esports ecosystem across India.
Creator and UGC-led gaming ecosystems will emerge: User generated content platforms and creatordriven gaming ecosystems are expected to gain momentum, enabling players to build, publish and monetise their own game experiences, similar to global models such as Roblox. Advances in AI-assisted game creation tools are likely to lower development barriers significantly, accelerating experimentation and enabling a broader base of independent creators and studios to enter the market.
Over time, this is expected to shift gaming from a consumption-led model to a participation-led ecosystem, with creators playing a central role in driving discovery, community formation and content velocity.
Gaming will enter brands’ media mix: The growing popularity of gaming will result in brands building-out their own gaming communities, offering a sticky audience that can be reached regularly for engagement. The report expects partnerships between game developers, brands and media companies to increase as ‘branded games’ become a more integral part of products and services targeted at Gen Z.
Video game developers will accelerate their pace of innovation: Video games have now become the primary growth driver for Indian gaming companies following the ban on money games.
The report expects this shift to fuel increased innovation across Indic themes, regional language interfaces, storylines, pricing models, and deeper partnerships with celebrities, actors and cricketers. The report also anticipates Indian games being marketed more aggressively in international markets, securing bundling partnerships with telecom operators, and expanding their presence across OTT platforms spanning video, sports, news and audio.
