I was born a few years before the close of the 20th century, and like almost all of my peers, I was instantly caught up in the phenomenon called online gaming. True, our choices back then were limited to Metal Slug or Commando 2 — and a few years later, Sherwood MMORPG — however, I still like to think of us as the first generation of online gamers in the country.
Well, we have come a long way from those unenlightened times and almost every other kid is an avid online gamer. According to Google India and KPMG, the niche will continue exhibiting even faster growth and the number of online gamers in the country will almost triple by 2021.
Google puts the number of online gamers in the country at about 120 million. The company says that the number will mark a significant jump within the space of a handful of years and by 2021, will stand at excess of 310 million. 310 million is a seriously huge number fellows. To put things into perspective, a 2012 consensus put the population of UP — India’s most populous state — at around 200 million.
Sure enough, the staggering projected growth in the number will also be accompanied by a growth in the industry itself and it could well acquire a price of around $1 Billion by 2021.
As per the report:
The online gaming industry in India is expected to gain momentum and grow to $1 billion by 2021, from the current $360 million, at a growth rate of 20 per cent.
It added:
With a 117 per cent spike in searches for online games by Indians, it is estimated that the current online gamer base of 120 million gamers in 2016 will grow to 310 million by 2021.
The report also said that more than half gamers currently go for a game based upon peer recommendations. It also said that over one third of their online entertainment wallets is spent on gaming. The report also said that while mostly strategy games were taken up by heavy gamers lives, casual gamers usually went for puzzle games.
