CHENNAI: Under the bright, blinking lights of an unassuming office, the body of Kavitha, an office worker, is discovered under mysterious circumstances. The plot thickens as scattered clues arise including a knife, a hastily-penned suicide note, coffee stains, and threads of old chats. A line-up of suspects — including a boss, a colleague, a suspicious ex-boyfriend — to select from. As the press demands answers, evidence piles up and the clock ticks away, one question remains: who killed Kavita?
Tamil Nadu and Kerala-based Asiaville’s recently launched AIGE (AyeVee Interactive and Gamified Experience) allows users to embody the character of Detective Dev and solve this whodunit in an hour. The show ‘Who Killed Kavita’ transports users to a murder mystery and a spider-like web of questions and allows interactive game-like features including a VR crime scene, an AI-powered chat with the police, and other gamified features. “The idea of AIGE is content meets interactivity and gaming. As the user watches the content, they are interacting with it and playing a series of games. it is a participative and active experience as opposed to a passive one,” explains Tuhin Menon, CEO and co-founder at Asiaville.
AIGE’s other show is ‘Let Me Out’, which combines elements of Squid Games and Jumanji, where four friends find themselves trapped in a box after attempting to escape from an inadvertent street crime. Blending gaming elements with storytelling, this platform offers high-quality graphics and a seamless experience. Catering to a general and gaming audience, the app currently has both shows in Hindi and Tamil and will soon release them in other languages including Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali. In a nutshell, AIGE is breaking boundaries to build an OTT for games.
G for gameplay
In today’s era of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality, the possibilities of expanding gaming experiences are endless. In 2023, the Asiaville team launched the AyeVee app with short videos, live streaming, and creators and influencers interacting with users. “One particular trend we noticed was when creators played games live, it could be basic interactive polls, trivia, quizzes, or casual games, we found a tremendous engagement. We decided to experiment with a fully scripted live, murder mystery with interactive options. We saw engagement go through the roof — in terms of users asking questions or participating, we had 85% completion on a one-hour live,” says Tuhin.
Soon, picking up on this idea, the in-house product tech team and content team scripted various storylines. To enhance the experience, the show was punctuated with diverse challenges and games. “None of the features can be extraneous, it has to move the narrative forward future plans to use AI to make the game more interactive and dynamic,” he says, adding a patent has been filed for the app, and they are collaborating with the ESports Authority of Tamil Nadu (ESAT).
Content is the most commodified thing under the sun, and the challenge lies in grabbing eyeballs. “We want to build something differentiated, for us, the north star metric is to deliver engaging shows constantly, volume is important from a retention perspective but we want to build these experiences into something great.”
Gaming in the future
The DNA of gaming finds its roots in tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons in the 60s and 70s. Over the years, the fantasy universe grew and games like Cluedo or Monopoly found its way into the mainstream. From families playing games after dinner, and board game cafes to associations, contests fill our everyday lives.
According to Business Standard, India’s gaming sector is currently valued at around $3.1 billion. With 442 million gamers, India is the second-largest gaming market in the world behind China. The Asiaville CEO points out, India is the largest mobile gaming market in the world.
However, with games like PubG and Call of Duty, an added worry is the violence, gore, and lax morality filling these platforms. “That is a bit worrisome because it is kids who spend hours playing these games per day. By bringing content and different possibilities, we are diluting that space. There is no violence or gore, it is solving a murder mystery but not depicting the violence.”
As for the future, Tuhin says that gaming is going to be massive. “It is the form-factor that monetises the most. Microtransactions and in-app purchases are way higher in gaming than content. But it is Pareto principle — 20% of games that walk away with 80% of the revenue.”
As the team gears up to script more stories and challenges, they continue to expand boundaries by experimenting. AI is going to change the game for the app, from coming up with basic structure, coding, and back-end work, signs off Tuhin.
AIGE will be unveiled
at IIT Madras Research Park, at 3 pm today. The show is now streaming on the AyeVee app, available for Android and iOS users.