According to the latest report by MoEngage, in collaboration with AppsFlyer and AppsTweak, mobile gaming in India is expected to reach $8.6 billion by the end of 2027, owing to increased smartphone penetration, the availability of smartphones at a reasonable price, and the availability of more affordable data plans.

The paper, titled “The State of Mobile Gaming in India,” claims that the Indian gaming industry is currently valued at $2.6 billion.

“Projections indicate that the mobile gaming industry will continue to grow and generate more than $100 billion in revenue by 2023.” Needless to say, there is a massive market opportunity to be exploited. “However, growing and retaining a loyal customer base is more difficult than it appears,” says Narasimha Rao, General Manager- India and Middle East, MoEngage.

According to the survey, more opportunities have been opened for mobile gaming companies in India as a result of regulatory changes made by Alphabet-owned Google in its Play Store. Following an order from India’s antitrust authority, the Competition Commission of India, Google announced major changes to its Android operating system and Play Store in November last year. Google stated that, as part of the policy change, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will now be able to licence particular Google apps for pre-installation on their devices.

“Google Play policy changes have increased opportunities for gaming companies in India.” We’ve seen the rise of gaming start-ups challenging the established quo since Google’s announcement enabling India-based pay-to-play gaming apps. “Big fluctuations in the ranking of the top 50 games in India indicate the level of market competition,” says Karan Lakhwani, head of AppTweak.

“A growing number of Indian gaming studios are launching global apps rather than focusing solely on the Indian market.” Mobile gaming firms were among the first to recognise the value of localization, personalization, and competitive benchmarking. They have created a lasting competitive edge by leveraging insights from numerous martech technologies. “We anticipate that the user experience will reach a new level as a result of these investments,” Lakhwani adds.

According to TeamLease Digital research, India is the sixth-largest gaming market in terms of revenue, with 480 million users in the domestic gaming business. According to the analysis, the Indian gaming industry will generate over 1 lakh direct and indirect jobs by 2022–23 and about 2 lakh jobs by FY24. Furthermore, the industry is expected to grow by 20% to 30% by FY23. Developers, testing engineers, gaming animators, and game designers are among the most in-demand occupations in the gaming business.

To boost digital adoption through online gaming, the government declared in the Union Budget 2023–24 the removal of the minimum threshold of $10,000 for TDS as well as clarification of taxability connected to online gaming.

Credit: Fortune India