Gaming has seen massive changes in recent times, especially after the pandemic. Gaming is not just a thing of hobby or passing time anymore. People are consuming, engaging, sharing gaming content, and are basically enjoying watching people play games. The 2021 Game Summit’s panel moderated by Satrajit Sen, head, product, and community, what defines them, what are their characteristics and demographics, and which gamers eventually become active professional gamers.

The panelist included Dr. Subi Chaturvedi, chief corporate and public affairs officer, Zupee; Manasvi Dalvi, gamer, Gaming YouTuber; Ronald Landers, CEO, AIGF, and Shagufta ‘Xyaa’ Iqbal, gamer, content creator. Chaturvedi shared statistics regarding a recent KPMG report and said, “We are currently at 430 million online gamers. When we’re looking at 2025, and this is the latest KPMG report, they’re projecting a growth which is now estimated as 657 million gamers when we’re looking at online gaming revenue. And that’s how we started in the financial year. It is estimated to be 13,600 crores when you look at the Indian market size, and I’m talking about only India. we’re looking at about 30,000 crores by FY 25. These are very serious numbers.”

Ronald Landers, CEO of, AIGF took the discussion and touched upon the evolution of Indian gamers. “Traditionally Indians are good at creative inputs and technology, those are our strengths. And when you combine those, obviously, we can create games. The second thing is obviously, access. So we are privileged to have access to the best content, whether it is gaming or sport. And once you have access, and with the fundamentals that should be spoken about like smartphone penetration, access to affordable data, that led to this entire explosion,” he said.

Landers further said about 18% of Indian gamers are from Gen Z, and about 17-18% are millennials. “Also, what we are seeing is that in India, the Indian gamer is not only there for spending time on entertainment, what he’s really wanting to do is have an entire social involvement around gaming. And that is why they are looking at what positives can come out of that engagement. The survey showed that those online friendships and those social friendships that they are developing are as good as physical friendships. And not only that, but they are looking at it to learn life skills, analytics, and decision making. And then, you know, translating all of that into probably a career choice.”

Speaking more about the AIGF report that stated gaming helps in developing life skills, Landers said that gaming is now more than just a hobby. He also shared highlights of a previous survey wherein mental health experts agreed that gamers do tend to display some special skills. Chaturvedi added to this by mentioning that life skills like strategy, lateral thinking, and decision-making are some of the skills that gamers develop while playing an online game. She explained how multiplayer games build competitiveness among gamers, and scientific studies indicate the development of such skills because of these games.

Speaking about the contribution of gaming companies, Landers said, “As newer technologies come into play, which is augmented reality and all of that, if you look at that being juxtaposed and involved into the gaming experience, then the sky’s the limit because these gamers are going to adopt that real quick, and in a really fast way and it is only going to enhance the gaming experience for them. So, very soon you will see a lot of those technologies being employed by you know, the game developers and by the gaming platforms.”

Landers also spoke about the monetizing aspect of the gaming industry and said, “If you look at the casual gaming, obviously, some of that part is the revenue models that come from advertising revenues are really interesting to play an offer. And that, coupled with maybe, you know, in-app purchases is what makes it all up. Our estimates say that by 2025 the industry is going to double. And you know, keeping in mind about between 20 to 25 percent of the CAGR, this is going to double. So significant numbers, if you keep that in mind, and by 2025, we are really looking at easily about a $3 billion industry.

So, that is the kind of monetization that is happening out of all of this consumerism and content as well.” He also shared his views on the future of the online gaming industry and said that the future looks extremely bright in the coming years. “I think it is a great, great industry to grow from, both in terms of the number of gamers going up and also you will be transmitting revenues,” he added.

Credits: BrandEquity