Mobile Gaming Overview In India
Mobile gaming is the process whereby people engage in game playing with their mobile devices. Although mobile gaming has the potential of shooting up the iGaming industry, however, it has not been so expected as it happened in 2020. The global gambling industry experienced a massive increase in the number of players.
Interestingly, India led among the countries that brought a significant influx of players to the iGaming industry. As a result, the world gambling industry is now valued at a fantastic price of $166 billion. India is said to have contributed over 17% of the world’s market share in the gambling industry. Not only that, there are speculations and predictions that India’s mobile gaming market will be worth $3 billion by 2023.
2020 saw that there was unprecedented participation in online gaming by Indians. India, the number country in mobile gaming, rose to such a height with over 7.3 billion downloads and installation of mobile games. Even at this fantastic record, there are projections that it will increase as players find more mobile casinos online every day. Likewise, investors in gambling are considering India as their following destination due to this impressive performance.
The Change In Indian Mobile Gaming Participation
Mobile gaming is no doubt the strength of the gambling industry. It has been the innovation behind the increasing engagement of players in the industry. This increase is a result of ease in playing and unhindered accessibility to games. Players can now play games at any place and at any time without restrictions as it is at their fingertips.
As such, mobile gaming in India features over 85% of the gaming participation in the country. Tablet game playing, which may also be categorised as mobile gaming but not outrightly, also shares 4% of the participation. PC gaming which was initially the bedrock of online gaming, now maintains a market share of 11%. Such statistics are promising as India is also one of the top 5 most populated countries globally.
Another analysis shows that there was a significant drop in PC and tablet gaming. This act is the result of players’ attention shift from these devices. Game downloads using Android devices increased by 51% to become the most significant used device in mobile gaming. iOS game download from the apple store also increased by 20%.
Factors responsible for mobile gaming growth in India
Considering the unprecedented growth experienced in Indian online gaming. You may want to agree with me that such growth must be a factor behind it. Five factors have extensively been of help in increasing participation in online gaming. Each of them is analysed below;
Covid-19 pandemic
Nobody would ever hope that the covid-19 pandemic can bring about such a positive change to online gaming. Not even India has a high population and one of the highest death tolls during the pandemic. However, the lockdown as an act to curtail the spread of the virus could shift people’s attention towards online gaming. As there is enough time to play and relax, you can choose between watching TV, surfing the internet, and playing a game. The report obtained from BARC and Nielsen is that Indians spent 218 minutes playing games against the 152 minutes used watching TV.
Population factor
The roles that the population plays in the growth of online gaming in India cannot be discredited. India is the second-largest country globally, with over 50% of its population being below 25. Such a population status is favourable to the gaming industry as its target audience. Hence, it is instrumental in increasing the growth of online gaming either through voluntary participation or peer influence.
The telecommunication and smartphones cost factor.
In India, the price of using a mobile telecommunication network has been reduced. India also doubles as the second-largest user of mobile networks in the world. The cost of mobile data usage is also affordable in India. As such, it has been of great help to enhance the participation of young folks in online gaming. At the same time, it is cheap to acquire a smartphone in India due to the high competition between brands. This opportunity has made it easy for players to choose mobile devices over personal computers.
Government regulations
Although the Indian government has not legalised gambling, there has been a kind of leniency with mobile gaming. Having understood the potential of the industry and the massive income generated from it, the government would instead regulate it than ban it. At the same time, offshore companies are allowed to offer games to Indians with respect to Government provisions. The government strictly monitors advertisement and participation to ensure compliance.
Even after a growth of over 60% in the last three years, India mobile gaming is projected to hit $3billion. This prediction is a result of an influx of investors and possibly full-scale permission from the Indian government.