Recent years have seen a meteoric rise in the popularity of online gaming in India, fueled by factors such as the proliferation of mobile internet and the availability of a wide variety of locally developed games. More than half of India’s gamers now live outside of major metropolitan areas, according to a new study by the VC fund Lumikai and AWS, a finding that demonstrates once again that gaming has entered the mainstream. According to the report, only 44% of gamers in 2022 were based in major metropolitan areas.
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The fact that women now make up 40% of Indian gamers further dismantles the preconceived notions of what kind of people are drawn to video games. According to data compiled women actually spend more time than males do playing games that aren’t played online. While men are more likely to play action-adventure or RMG titles, women are more likely to play casual or strategy games.
The majority of Indian gamers are now between the ages of 18 and 30, and a whopping 64% of them regularly make in-app purchases to advance in the game. The fact that more than half of these paying players started doing so during the past year is indicative of the ecosystem’s growth and development. More content/levels and improved in-game items (44%), according to the research, are also factors in players’ willingness to pay.
Meanwhile, esports has emerged as a leading entertainment category, with numerous gaming platforms competing to win over players with increased prize pools and a broader selection of games. The population of Indian esports participants quadrupled between 2021 and 2022, from 1.5 million to 6 million. With a compound annual growth rate of 32% between 2022 and 2027, the Indian esports market went from $40 million in 2022 to an anticipated $140 million in 2027. The analysis predicted a five-year increase in player numbers of 2.5x, to 1.5m by 2027.
Lumikai Founding General Partner Justin Shriram Keeling said, “Indians download more games than anyone else on the globe, and this is translating to a host of white spaces on the consumer demand side, including a predominantly young, professional gamer category who are increasingly paying for in-app purchases, an untapped audience of female gamers, and strong interest in games with Indian cultural resonance.”
In the past two years, Lumikai has supported a number of Indian gaming businesses. They include Bombay Play, Loco, Elo Elo, Studio Sirah, etc. It’s a genuinely exciting time to be developing for India’s diverse gaming demographics, Keeling continued.
