What’s in a game?
BENGALURU: First Tik Tok and now PUBG... The recent move of the government to ban the Chinese game has left gaming enthusiasts in distress. But rather than looking at it as a setback, many are perceiving it as an opportunity. Take, for instance, Animesh Agarwal, who was persuing his CA and took a sabbatical to get into e-gaming industry in 2018. The PUBG streamer and influencer who earned a six-digit income per month through the game, says this ban could lead to more opportunities. “This craze was something else all together. But after the ban on other Chinese apps, it was expected. We are just looking at it as one game in a sea of games being banned. This is not a setback but a new beginning,” says the founder of 8bit, an e-sports team.
Over the last few years, Masud Raihan, an IT support professional, had got hooked to PUBG. Now, while he’s looking for a back-up game, Raihan is also contemplating buying a PS4 to play the PC version. “This was the only game I’ve played for so long, otherwise I would get bored within a week or two. It was a stressbuster, but now I will have to look at Call of Duty or other games,” says the 26-year-old. Unlike many other games, PUBG, he says, got so popular because it doesn’t require constant attention. “It was possible to play it even with tired eyes,” he adds.
Communications professional Vinod Kumar S feels that the ban brings a huge relief for parents. “It shifts a child’s focus from studies. It is extremely violent and addictive,” says Kumar, whose 16-year-old nephew often came over to his house in Kamanahalli to play PUBG. “The boy’s parents are very strict at home, so he comes over to mine,” he adds.
Keerti Singh, co-founder of Hitwicket, a mobile gaming startup which sees Bengaluru among the top three cities in terms of number of gamers from India, points out that the gaming market in the country is largely dominated by Western and Chinese developers. “PUBG is estimated to have generated about $100 million from Indian gamers. Currently, India is the number one country in terms of game downloads, but when it comes to revenue, a significant portion of it goes abroad.
When we talk about digital goods, it is easy for foreign gaming companies to add India to their market, there is not much additional infrastructure that they need to invest in. However, if the gaming industry in India were to be dominated by homegrown apps, you can imagine the kind of ecosystem and the employment it could generate,” she explains. Singh adds that worth of mobile gaming has gone from 0 to $70 billion in less than 15 years, which shows its immense potential in India. “The move to ban Chinese apps is going to inspire and create opportunities for Indian app developers to think big and to think global,” she says.
Play on
City-based nCore Games is launching a multiplayer game called Fearless and United: Guards (FAU:G). It’s based on scenarios faced by Indian security forces to counter threats. Teams of five will be able to collaborate to fight evil. The game is expected to launch in October and will be available for Android and iOS. It has been developed under mentorship of actor Akshay Kumar, and nCore will donate 20% of revenue to Bharat Ke Veer Trust. Akshay Kumar says, “I hope when Indian youngsters play FAU:G, they will learn about sacrifices of soldiers.” Co-founder-CEO Dayanidhi MG says, “We managed MOBA games like Vainglory of SuperEvil Megacorp for the worldwide audience. We’ve worked with global studios like Rovio. We are now creating games that Indians can relate to.”