Evidential rise in mobile gaming, applied games in India: NASSCOM Gaming Forum White Paper reports

NEW DELHI: The National Association of Software and Services Companies in association with App Annie and Deloitte have released two whitepaper reports outlining substantial growth in the mobile and applied games sectors in India and the opportunities for both local and foreign mobile game publishers and investors, as well as best practices for applied game developers.

“Both the Mobile Gaming on the Rise in India and the Applied Games in India white paper reports, demonstrate the growth of both mobile and applied games in India, for both local and international developers and publishers,” said Rajesh Rao, Chairman of the NASSCOM Gaming Forum. “At NASSCOM Gaming Forum we are excited by these findings and the opportunities these give to both local developers and publishers and look forward to continuing to build a thriving and innovative games economy in India.”

The NASSCOM Gaming Forum and App Annie report ‘Mobile Gaming on the Rise in India’ discusses how Indian consumers are taking to games, with game downloads doubling in the last two years, and the overall amount of time Indian users spent in mobile games growing sharply over the past year. Mobile game downloads are expected to grow at a CAGR of 58% over the next 5 years going from 1.6 billion downloads in 2016 to an estimated 5.3 billion downloads in 2020, as a result of growing adoption of games, the rapid proliferation of smartphones, affordable data and universal implementation of direct carrier billing, India presents an ideal opportunity for local and foreign mobile game publishers and investors.

Across the region, Indian gamers continue to embrace globally popular titles, including Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans and Subway Surfers. Local Indian publishers are enjoying increasing success in simulation, sports and social card games, with Teen Patti social card games succeeding and proving popular amongst younger consumers in the marketplace. The report continues to discuss how multiplayer and social features have become key engagement drivers critical to the success of games in India and how publishers should draw upon these proven mechanics and incorporate localized and culturally relevant content to grow their user base.

The NASSCOM Gaming Forum and Deloitte report ‘Applied Games in India’ discusses the growth of applied games with a focus on traditional learning, business, marketing or social experiences, that are predominantly used for simulation based training (in the fields of aviation and military). The reports discuss how the Indian market for applied games is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14-16%, from USD 40 million in 2016, to USD 80 million in 2021. Currently across India there are 40 developers of Applied Games (Independent studios, IT firms venturing into Applied Games and e-learning companies), that operate out of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and NCR.