India’s gaming and interactive media fund Lumikai revealed the third edition of its annual State of India Gaming report, in collaboration with Google.
The report was launched by Salone Sehgal and Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partners, Lumikai, at the 15th India Game Developers Conference (IGDC) in Hyderabad. According to the report the Indian gaming market is expected to hit the $7.5 Bn valuation mark by FY28.
The report anticipates growth of 20 pc CAGR, driven by increasing in-app purchases and advertising revenues in casual and mid-core games. The data also sheds light on India’s global position as one of the leading countries globally for total mobile game downloads. Over 50 pc of all Indian internet users account for the gaming population in the country. This number grew by 12 pc in FY23, according to the report. The data also highlighted how the average time spent on gaming increased by 20 pc, to 10 to 12 hours per gamer per week.
The projected growth trajectory counters the narrative of a decline in in-app purchases following the suspension of top Battle Royale games, BGMI and Free Fire. Notably in-app revenue outside of BGMI and Free Fire witnessed a 37 pc year-on-year surge. This was seen on account of steadily increasing monetisation across casual and mid-core games indicating a growing trend of exploring new IPs by Indian gamers, along with increased propensity to pay. At the same time, RMG revenue grew by $500 Mn in FY23 but is expected to face headwinds in the coming years due to recent taxation policies and industry consolidation, according to the report.
“We are thrilled to unveil the third edition of the State of India Gaming report in partnership with Google. The strong growth and insights showcased in our report are a testament to the continued appetite for gaming in India. Indian gaming has been on the rise because of rapid digitisation, growth in new gamers and new paid gamers, and increasing diversity of gaming content consumed. Even though funding has slowed down this year, the outlook towards the gaming industry is extremely positive. We’re particularly excited to see the increasing engagement of gamers from non-metro cities, which demonstrates the massive growth potential and the opportunity in the Indian gaming industry. We are committed as a team to be at the forefront of powering India’s gaming economy and we will continue to enable the best interactive media & gaming founders across India,” said Sehgal.
The report revealed that 59 pc or gamers are male and 41 pc female, with 66 pc coming from non-metros. Most users play games to unwind or socialise with friends. Of the surveyed users, 41 pc mentioned that they’ve graduated from playing casual games to all kinds of games, while 28 pc showed a proclivity to experiment with new genres. Over 58 pc of users said they partake in in-app purchases, with 62 pc of users claiming that UPI is their preferred mode of payment for games.
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