The online gaming sector in India has witnessed the highest growth since the mobile and internet revolution. Along with a considerable rise in more homegrown game developers, the industry is also seeing investments from global gaming giants from across the globe. Foreign giants like Rockstar Games recently acquired Dhruva Interactive, an Indian video game development company. Other big names include Sequoia Capital that has invested bulks in Indian gaming companies like Moonfrog labs and Octro. Ubisoft owns two development studios in India, PayTM and Alibaba Group’s Hong Kong based AGTech Holdings formed a joint venture to launch Gamepind – a localized platform hosting popular casual and sports games. Youzu, StomStudio, Tencent, and many more have also invested in the growing online gaming industry, and market opportunities of India.

According to Statista forecasts, the number of gamers could reach one-third of the world’s population in 2021. As most of the players are from Asia – about 1.4 billion, other countries are catching up! Countries like Europe with 386 million, Middle East and Africa with 377 million, Latin America with 266 million, and North America with 210 million are molding mutually beneficial ecosystems for entrepreneurs, players, and gaming developers alike.

Owing to the availability of smartphones at low cost, smartphone users are expected to reach the 859 million mark by 2022 from 468 million in 2017, counting an increase of 84%. Along with that, the number of active internet users is expected to sharply increase to 829 million users by 2021 from 451 million in 2019. As the world still remains under tight grasps of Covid-19, access to affordable smartphones growing at 15% per year in India, high-speed 4G internet penetration, and low data tariffs together have given rise to mobile games. The market value of India’s gaming industry was around 90 billion Indian rupees in the financial year 2020 and is estimated to go up to over 143 billion rupees by 2022.

Even though the State of Online Gaming 2020 report reveals that mobile phones continue to be the most preferred gaming device followed by computers, gaming consoles, and tablets, with time, the Indian gaming sector will mature and players would be open to explore different other devices, not restricting themselves to just mobile devices.

According to Deloitte India’s recent report, the gaming industry is poised to grow at a CAGR of 40% by 2022, scaling the total market size to US$2.8 billion. Although this growth will majorly be driven by mobile gaming, the research covers the role played by the edge computing market, adoption of AI and IoT, rise of AR/VR technologies, and growth of mobility and other application services as well. This incredible growth of online gaming has given rise to numerous tech trends which will be ruling the roost in 2021.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In upcoming years, artificial intelligence will become the backbone of the esports industry, providing players with technologically advanced training tools focused on machine learning that will further improve their skills and gaming strategies. Natural language processing (NLP) instruments will also gain momentum in the near future. We can expect the player-audience social experience to be increasingly personalized by AI.

Virtual Reality (VR)

There has been an increasing amount of fresh demand for VR esports within the market! VR esports are emerging with an introduction of untethered VR headsets and fiery new games. These are anticipated to feel immersive, so players feel more linked to the game. Trusting the numbers both these technologies are expected to pump up revenues close to $20 billion by 2021.

5G Internet Adding to Mobile Gaming Experience

According to a joint report published by the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association and the consulting firm KPMG, India’s smartphone base will reach 820 million active users by 2022. These numbers clearly highlight the ability of mobile gaming to push a wider and younger audience towards esports. Esports could be the next big thing, especially in rural India, where most youngsters now own a smartphone. With that, the year 2019 also marked the transition into the 5G era and 2020 amplifies its acceptance and importance during the pandemic. 5G will pursue the latest advancement in the gaming business especially when it comes to cloud gaming. Without having to install any new infrastructure, online gaming will enable gamers to bolster their experience with 5G networks. The 5G network is also likely to nurture virtualization and foster network slices, with every slice designated for a particular purpose.

Streaming platforms, tools & communication

Streaming is where a gamer can record or show their game by broadcasting it live over the internet through streaming platforms. It gives the fans an opportunity to get closer to the action and is also a chance for pro gamers and entertainers to make some extra money. Facebook and YouTube will be leading the show in India as being the go-to streaming platforms for the gamers! In order to minimize problems and enhance the quality of online gaming, game streaming software solutions are essential; for which streaming tools like Open Broadcaster Software (OBS Studio), Xsplit, Wirecast & Stream Pro, etc will come in handy. And last but not the least, while the world is busy using zoom, google meet, gamers are taking over platforms like Discord; which is a full-service communication platform built especially for the gaming community. You can create your own rooms, chat, stream, and hold video meetings without any charge and any time limits.

Number of Gaming Tournaments/Events & Prize Money

There are many eSports events around the world now with substantial prize pools through which the best gamers can earn a healthy income from competing in these tournaments. According to European Gaming, the total revenue from esports tournaments was over $1 billion in 2019. In 2019, the total prize money for over 5288 tournaments was $234,433,656, up by 42% compared to the previous year. Garena, a leading global online games developer, and publisher, has unveiled an exciting line-up of Free Fire tournaments for the Indian server in 2021. Free Fire will host four fiery tournaments across two pro circuits with a total prize pool of more than INR 2 crore. Other huge tournaments like League of Legends World Championship 2021, FIFA eWorld Cup 2021, and EVO Champions 2021 are sure to generate tremendous growth both in terms of viewership and revenue as well.

With such remarkable technological innovations, the gaming industry has a bright future ahead. The use of cutting-edge technologies in the near future has got the entire gaming industry buzzing. It will be interesting to see these innovative tech trends and creative minds of developers transform the gaming industry into something bigger than our imagination!