With online gaming gaining popularity in India, most people end up spending too much time on their smartphones, PC, or consoles playing games. One of the huge beneficiaries of this has been gaming; the crash caused by COVID-19 induced lockdown provided the gaming industry with a much-needed boost.

According to a KPMG report on casual games, the pandemic has been “a well-known turning point in Indian game consumption”. The report pointed out that because people were forced to stay indoors for long periods of time in 2020, and now in 2021, online games have emerged as a form of entertainment. The report further pointed out that, “As games add social elements to their products, people see games as an appropriate way to work and rest. Almost all indicators, whether it is game downloads, average time spent on games, or the conversion from a Daily Active Users (DAU) to a paid user; are operating with a higher new normal compared to the lockout period before Covid-19.”

However, in terms of monetization of casual games, India ranks low. The report shows that India’s ARPU or Average Revenue Per Users are the lowest in the country. But the success of casual games such as Battle Royale and Ludo King has paid off in terms of paying users conversion. The KPMG report stated: “We expect the growth of the Indian online casual game sub-segment to be very strong, likely to grow from Rs 60 billion in FY21 to Rs 169 billion in FY25.”

The growth will be driven by demand-side factors, such as the growth of digital infrastructure, the youth population, and the increasing popularity of digital payments; and supply-side factors, such as the expansion of Indian studios, the increase in the supply of world-class games, and the enthusiasm of investors interests, localization of game content, and ecosystem growth factors such as the adoption of esports in India, the report concludes.

Credits: The Times Of India