India Gaming

Internet and mobile phones are
driving the gaming market in India. Gamers constitute 41.2% of the total active
Internet users in India, a whopping 89% increase from the 2007, says a recent
published report of Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB
International. The study was based on a survey conducted in thirty cities in the
country.

Gaming is the fifth largest application accessed by Internet
users. Email is the top most application, followed by general information
search, education information search, and text chat. Racing, sports games, and
shooting games make up the top three genres for gaming in India on both online
and console platforms. Games such as 'road rash' and 'NFS' are the most popular
racing games. All sports games involving cricket are extremely popular in India.
The main difference in these genres of games played online and console is the
preference for flash and arcade games online, whereas the average gamer prefers
fighting games on the console.

The total gamers' population is also on the rise and this is
attributed to the rapidly rising mobile subscriptions in India and high profile
launches of Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3 in India.

The study indicated that there has been a significant shift
in demographics of gamers. The proportion of gaming by college going students on
any platform has increased from 20-32%. And it now accounts for almost 50% of
the gaming users along with school going kids. The report further highlights
that an average gamer is extremely keen on role playing games and loves to
explore games thoroughly, which suggests the need for a strong storyline along
with the game play. Additionally, a significant 80% of active gamers like gaming
for its socializing aspect. The report analyzes the entire gaming ecosystem,
such as the stakeholders in this industry, types of models being used, in-depth
analysis of gaming platforms, types of games being played, attitudes and
behavior of gamers and also highlights issues plaguing this industry.

However, the existence of a thriving gray market in the
country, with almost 70-80% of games sold being through this channel, severely
impacts the growth of gaming in India. High customs duty on the gaming consoles
(around 25%), makes the consoles out of reach for the majority of consumers. The
high duty has also encouraged the gray market, as it is able to sell consoles
cheaper after avoiding the duties and taxes.

Very low PC, Internet and broadband penetration is hampering
the growth of gaming in India. Only 7.8 mn households all across India own at
least one PC, which accounts for less than 5% of all households in the country.
It is already known that majority of gamers start of as casual offline PC gamers
and then move on to online and console gaming. So to start with, not having a PC
inhibits the growth of gaming in the country.

On the other hand, the total number of Internet subscribers
comes to a mere 4.8 mn, out of which the number of broadband subscribers is a
paltry 3.7 mn. This provides a very low base for capability to play online games
of any type, let alone more complex MMOGs. Due to this lack of penetration of
broadband, Internet speeds are very low which makes the gameplay experience
quite non-enjoyable and causes frustration due to 'lag' in screen frames.

Akhilesh Shukla

akhileshs@cybermedia.co.in