To strengthen the self-discipline process, the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) announced the establishment of a partnership with Arthur D. Little (ADL), the oldest and world-renowned international management consulting company.

Today, the online skill game industry follows a self-discipline model, which contains the necessary checks and balances to ensure responsible gaming and adequate protection of players.

With the exponential growth of the industry in the past three years, it is imperative to strengthen the self-discipline process. Through extensive compliance audits of its members with the help of ADL, the goal is to pass standards including user verification, player protection, responsible gaming practices, financial integrity, conflict resolution, publicity and promotion, and legal and gaming compliances.

Speaking of the partnership, Roland Landes, CEO of the All India Gaming Federation, said: “AIGF is pleased to onboard Arthur D. Little as our Skills Games compliance partner. With the help of ADL’s expertise in understanding changing business ecosystems, we aim to support the overall online gaming industry of India. Moving forward, this exercise would help both the federation and the member stakeholders in laying down industry best practices and setting concrete foundations for the self-regulatory landscape. At the end of this exercise, the members of AIGF will receive a certificate (subject to compliance) which will be a proof of their compliance with AIGF’s self-regulatory skill gaming charter.”

The online skill game industry has maintained a double-digit compound annual growth rate in the past three years. According to the EY-FICCI 2021 report, the online gaming sector increased by 18% in 2020, reaching 77 billion rupees, as online players increased from 300 million in 2019 to 360 million in 2020, an increase of 20%.

Revenue from transaction-based games increased by 21%. Driven by in-app purchases, fantasy sports and casual games revenue increased by 8%. The online gambling industry is expected to continue to grow, with revenue doubling to reach 150 billion rupees by 2023, and 500 million players by 2025, making it the third-largest part of the Indian M&E industry.

Explaining the association, Arthur D. Little India and South Asia managing partner and CEO Barnik Chitran Maitra explained the partnership: “By working with AIGF to develop a skills game charter, Arthur D. Little is pleased to be able to support people from as India seeks to become strong The global power of online games, its current annual revenue is about 1 billion U.S. dollars, and it may reach 8-10 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.”

Due to the different opinions of different countries on this subject, the law lacks uniformity. When talking about the importance of self-regulation to the online skill game industry in India, Landers further elaborated: “Now more than ever it has become imperative that the industry’s self-regulation practices should be recognised and endorsed by the relevant authorities so that it encourages additional investments leading to technological advancements as well as generation of increased revenue to the exchequer. AIGF and its advisory panel of domain experts will be happy to assist in playing a consultative role for the same. We sincerely believe that with the much needed support of the relevant policy makers across States and the Center, India can become an online gaming superpower, in the near future.”

Ideally, a centralized model that recognizes the AIGF online skill game self-discipline mechanism will strengthen the overall process and ensure the unity and stability of the industry, which will greatly promote the entire ecosystem and its stakeholders.

Credits: Animation Xpress