According to an Accenture report, gaming is a $300 billion global industry, and with the rise of eSports, it’s poised to grow even more. But while gaming has always been a popular pastime for many, entrepreneurs are now taking advantage of the industry’s growth to launch exciting new career opportunities. From on-the-job training to in-depth education, you can build a successful career in gaming by learning in the best ways.

Throughout recent years, gaming has grown into a flourishing industry, with about a billion players having been included in just three years alone. Having said that, Indian parents still had reservations about considering a career in gaming for their children for quite a while. In any case, the quickly developing numbers are confirmation enough that the business is here for the long haul, making it a viable career option for many.

The Number Game

While the general Indian gaming market size of $1.8 billion is still nowhere near China ($45 billion) and the USA ($40 billion) –it is developing quickly on the mobile-first peculiarity, says a 2021 report by the Boston Consulting Group and Sequoia India.

According to the report, India’s mobile gaming industry, which remains at $1.5 billion and occupies approximately 1% of the global pie, is estimated to grow three times in size by 2025 and become a more than $5 billion market. At present, India has a user base of more than 300 million.

The years 2019-2020 also witnessed a growth in the CAGR of the gaming business, where both mobile and non-mobile revenue surpass that of media sub-sectors like OTT video, film, home entertainment, and audio. According to the report, gaming in India has likewise been catalyzed by the introduction of better cell phones, less expensive, quicker, and better internet quality and access, well-known titles, influencers, and COVID-19.

With the pandemic keeping people prisoner for a long time, many started playing games that helped them escape reality, thus raising the number of hours spent essentially. According to a study conducted by Lumikai Capital, a venture capital fund focused on gaming and interactive media, and consulting firm RedSeer, the average week-to-week time spent on gaming increased to roughly 3.6 hours during the lockdown months from around 2.5 hours daily before the COVID-19 lockdowns.

According to IMDB, Avengers Endgame is the highest-grossing Hollywood film released in 2019 with total revenues of $858.37 million. This number was not even close to the 1.95 billion dollars produced by a game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was launched around the same time.

Discussing the general development potential of the gaming business, Manoj Singh, CEO of Rubika, a private organization gaining practical experience in the fields of video games, 3D animation, and modern planning, says, “The gaming business is expected to grow 113% by 2025. With the rising number of players projected to grow 52% from 443 million to 667 million, the gaming business in India is ready for huge development and we will require skilled and trained experts.”

Gaming as a Profession

According to experts, “Anybody who is planning to choose gaming as a career has nothing to worry about.” Rubika Singh clarifies how it works: “Organizations present in the market start with a payment program, with the payment being around Rs 3 lakh each year for a fresher. Individuals with an average experience of 2-3 years can procure up to Rs 5 to 7 lakh each year. Pay rates can fundamentally increase as the individual develops skills and experience. Indeed, even experts can acquire Rs 10–15 lakh each year as their occupations are outsourced internationally and give worthwhile motivating forces.”

Up until this point, the gaming business has not been hoarded, leaving adequate space for individual game designers and freelancers to thrive.

How to get there

This industry is fast-paced, technical, and hectic, which requires a dedicated, formal educational route. This could include full-time bachelor’s and master’s degrees or specific certification and diploma courses presented by institutions and establishments across the world.

In India, institutes, like Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) – Pune, Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) – Mumbai, Arena Animation – New Delhi, and Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA) – Bengaluru, offer courses in game design. Universally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Central Florida, and Carnegie Mellon University are a portion of the top educational institutes that offer A-list courses in the gaming zone.

Right now, there are no government institutes that offer courses related to the field. In any case, in Union Budget 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared plans to set up an animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) advancement task force that will promote the advancement and improvement of gaming industry-related ethos in the country.

A course in game design does not restrict a student’s chances to the gaming industry alone, and animation (both 3D and 2D), graphic design, and special effects could become their playing fields for any other career path as well.

With games these days moving past pixels and hoping to offer an immersive experience along with audio, video, and storytelling, the industry also demands individuals from different professions. This implies that it opens doors for animators and creators as well as audio engineers, special effects experts, creative directors, actors, writers, programmers, and testers.

With the development and consistent advancement of various modes like cloud and online gaming, along with traditional video games, anything is possible for the budding industry and the ones looking to enter it.

Credit: Outlook