Popular casual games driver#

Reports suggest that since the pandemic, time spent by users playing casual games has increased by 14% and an average Indian now plays over 8.5 hours per week. Apart from being a recreational tool, casual games helped people overcome loneliness, stay connected with friends and family, and divert attention from the pandemic. In India, as with the world over, casual games provided the much-required active cognitive engagement everyone craved. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health is well known to the world. Another company, Nazara Technologies, that has a presence in over 64 countries across Asia, Africa, and Middle East, also became the first casual gaming company to release its IPO in March 2021. WinZO, a casual gaming application focusing on regional content, raised $65m recently. Companies having casual gaming in their repertoire have been attracting substantial investments. Companies earn an average revenue per user (“ARPU”) of INR 152 in 2021, which is poised to grow to INR 268 by 2025 (as per the report, Beyond the tipping point: A primer on casual gaming in India by KPMG, 2021).Investments in this sector are also on the rise. The casual gaming market is also earning noteworthy revenues for gaming companies.

More than 43% of mobile users engage with at least one casual game (as per the report Unpacking a Billion Dollar Industry: Digital Games and Sports in India by IAMAI – 2021). Out of 420 million casual gamers in India, 94% play on mobile devices. Reports indicate that India will have over 900 million mobile users by 2023.

Popular casual games driver#

During all this, the casual gaming industry in India has significantly picked up in recent yearswhich, thanks to a growing user baseand a little help from the pandemic, is poised to generate revenues of INR 169bn by itself by 2025.Īvailability of cheap internet and affordable smartphones is a key driver for the growth of casual games in India. Fantasy sports have got the attention of sports enthusiasts, esports are the pick for the Gen-Z and young adults, whereas card games (like poker and rummy) see interest across age groups. Today, India is (arguably) amongst the most unique gaming markets – largely because of the variety of games on offer and the diversity of users that play them. These are all testaments to how well the Indian market has matured. India’s business tycoon Mukesh Ambani went even further and remarked that gaming will soon be bigger than the music, television, and film industries put together. For instance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that India should take a lead in the digital gaming market and develop games based on its culture and folklore. The sentiment is pretty much the same when you look at what industrialists, investors, politicians, and other stakeholders are saying. The Indian gaming market is reportedly valued at $1bn, gathers INR 13bn in revenues annually, has 433 million users, over 400 start-ups, and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6%.The gaming industry as a whole attracted over $540m of investments between August 2020-January 2021 alone. The numbers in India are pretty impressive too. Over the past few years, as the interest and engagement towards gaming scaled, so have the numbers and market projections.

The excitement and glee games bring to people is unparalleled. People love to game – be it during the commute, an office lunch break, while waiting for an appointment, or your typical Friday game night. By Ranjana Adhikari (Partner) and Sarthak Doshi (Associate) at IndusLaw