According to a Deloitte India report, the online gaming sector is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 40 per cent to $2.8 billion by 2022, up from $1.1 billion in 2019. The still-ongoing pandemic has played (pun totally intended) no small part in this with 2020 having been a banner year for gaming companies in India and abroad.
Given the surging popularity of this particular byte of the entertainment pie, and recent measures like NITI Aayog having recommended setting up a self-regulatory body for online fantasy sports, in a relief for its many platforms, we speak to some of the country’s leading online gaming creators and companies about what’s in store for 2021:
Amit Purohit, Founder, Fantasy Akhada
2021 should see a continuation of the boom that we are observing in the gaming industry. The penetration of mobile phones and data connectivity, affordable data usage rates have ensured more and more people get hooked on to their phones for a longer duration and this has in turn benefitted the gaming apps too. If I was to deep dive into gaming and understand the growth of the fantasy sports ecosystem over the last one year, the same is again expected to continue. Live streaming of small leagues across sports has gone up and now more and more sports fans are following more and more leagues which make them more inclined to play fantasy sports. We are expecting exponential growth in the user base and the time and money spent by these users on fantasy sports platforms over the next two-three years.
Manvendra Shukul, CEO and Co-Founder, Lakshya Digital
The introduction of ‘real’ broadband in the developing nations has opened the gates for real time collaboration between the developers and the outsource partners. Gone will be the days, when the engine builds took several days to download or be shipped in physical discs. This will enable a seamless workflow between the two leading to almost instantaneous preview of updates and modifications of your favourite games. That will play a significant role in successful handover of Game VFX work to outsourcing studios.
Ishaan Arya, Co-Founder, The Esports Club
As a result of the nationwide lockdown, more people got introduced to gaming in the absence of other means of enter-tainment. These habits are growing even as we are returning to normalcy. Valorant made a big splash as the first PC Esports title to father significant participation, viewership and commercial interest. I see mobile gaming continuing to drive growth for India with the likes of Valorant bringing in a strong PC Esports presence.
Yash Pariani, CEO and Founder, Indian Gaming League (IGL)
In 2021, we are expecting a huge rise in users for Mobile Gaming as the 5G network will offer better gameplay and more new users to the reduced latency. We also experienced our fair share of ups and downs in 2020, including a drop in users due to the ban on PUBG Mobile. We lost approximately 30% of our daily users as a result of that ban. However, we have seen a steady increase in the numbers in games like Free Fire and Call of Duty Mobile. Moreover in 2021, we are expecting a surplus of new gamers looking to try their hand at Esports, which will lead to a surge and one step closer to becoming a household topic and a legitimate career path for those passionate about gaming.