How Much Does India Contribute to the Global Gaming Industry?

How Much Does India Contribute to the Global Gaming Industry?

The global gaming industry is set to reach $200 billion by 2022 with the Asia Pacific Region contributing 47% of the global gaming revenue.

Although the initial phase of growth was pioneered by Japan, the USA, and an assortment of European countries, the next phase of expansion is set to be led by emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region, including India.

Today, India is home to a tenth of the world’s gamers and the second-largest smartphone user base in the world. The country’s exponential gaming popularity is partly due to the ever-growing youth population, which currently stands at 350 million, and the increased smartphone affordability and penetration.

But exactly how much does India contribute to the global gaming industry? We’ll cover that and more in this article.

Status of the Global Gaming Industry and India’s Contribution

According to industry reports, the global gaming industry was valued at $108.9 billion in 2017, with an average yearly growth of 7.8%.

Breaking down the percentage of growth rate, it was found that the Asian Pacific region accounted for a whopping 47% of this figure, with India contributing $818 million of the global revenue, and was ranked 17th in the list of contributors in the APAC region.

Enter 2019. The global gaming revenue grew exponentially to reach $150 billion, with India contributing about $860 million up from $818 million in 2017. According to Statista reports, the Indian gaming industry grew to reach 62 billion Indian Rupees (*approx. $868 million US dollars) in 2019. It’s expected the industry will be worth 250 billion rupees by 2024, making a tremendous contribution to this sector.

And with the unprecedented demand for games (India has over 250 game development companies, up from a mere 20 in 2010), the country’s gaming sector has reached a new milestone in the gaming universe. Experts project the country’s gaming market will be worth $1.1 billion by the end of 2020.

What Games Do Indians Play?

The top-grossing games charts from Think Gaming and App Annie show Indians love to play online multiplayer games and games of chance.

Data from the Think Gaming chart shows the top-grossing games in India are PUBG Mobile, Coin Master, and Candy Crush Saga. Indians also love sports games such as Tennis Crush (ranked 5th top-grossing iPhone game in India) and games featuring Bollywood stars.

Casino games are another category of games that have gained mega traction in India, evidenced by the growing number of casinos in the country. Popular casino games that Indians love include Phoenix Fire (play here), Book of Dead, and roulettes. Video slots, table games, and card games are also common in Indian casinos.

Status of Mobile Gaming in India

Mobile gaming in India is a force to be reckoned with.

A new report published by Newzoo shows that in 2016, India overtook the US as the second-largest market in the world by smartphone users. Since then, India has taken center stage in smartphone adoption and this has reflected in the number of annual smartphone sales.

For instance, the year 2017 was a game-changer for the Indian smartphone market where 74 million devices were sold. This resulted in an increase in the demand for mobile games and by the end of 2017, there were 222 million mobile gamers in India. Also, a whopping 89% of all the India gaming revenue was from mobile games.

Reports from KPMG and India’s self-regulatory body, India’s Federation of Sports Gaming also confirms the monumental growth and contribution of smartphones to gaming. According to KPMG, mobile phones are the major contributor to online gaming in India, with a market share of 85%. As per the report, computers and consoles account for a mere 11% of the market share.

The major drivers for the mobile gaming growth in India are increased smartphone penetration and affordability, expanding internet coverage, and declining data prices.