Recently, the Indian market has once again become a focal point in the gaming industry, with many people's first reaction to Indian games being real money card games.
Indeed, this type of game has a large audience base in India, and real money games account for more than 60% of all gaming revenue in India.
However, in recent years, the popular game categories in India have gradually developed a trend towards diversification. Today's article will discuss the hot categories and market opportunities in India with everyone.
Game Types Favored by Indian Users
In 10 regions of Asia, India has the highest proportion of players who play more than 5 hours per week, with Indian players spending an average of 13 hours per week on video games. The popular game categories loved by players include the following.
Card Games
Rummy and Teen Patti are the two most popular local poker games in India. Rummy has a long history in India and has been a popular form of entertainment even before the proliferation of smartphones.
Rummy games emphasize the flexible application of game strategies by players and are skill-based games. In India, users can legally play Rummy games, and manufacturers do not need to apply for a license to release Rummy games.
Because the games are compliant, Rummy game advertisements usually directly display elements related to money, using gold coins, diamonds, and rapidly growing account balances to suggest that users can "make big money" through the game.
The Teen Patti gameplay mainly involves guessing the cards in each person's hand and the psychological game between players. Since it is not a skill-based game, it cannot be presented directly as a real money game. However, due to vague regulatory policies, game manufacturers can still monetize and achieve high turnover through means such as virtual currency exchange for cash.
Fantasy Sports
Fantasy sports are skill-based online sports real money games that combine real sports events and virtual competitions. Players can form fantasy teams composed of real players, participate in various competitions, and earn points based on the players' performance in real matches, ultimately ranking and rewarding based on the scores.
India has a considerable market size for fantasy sports, with the market size expected to increase by 185 billion rupees from 2022 to 2027.
Casual Games
Ludo King is one of the most popular casual games in India, with over a billion downloads globally, nearly 80% of which are from Indian players. According to Sensor Tower data, "Ludo King" was the most downloaded game in India in the first three quarters of 2024 and ranked fourth in terms of active users in India.
Ludo games originated from the ancient Indian game Pachisi, similar to the domestic game of Ludo, which is a strategic board game suitable for 2 to 4 players. Ludo King further simplifies the core gameplay of Ludo, introducing one-touch dice rolling and a faster-paced game mode.
Ludo King also supports a multiplayer mode for up to 6 people, and players can connect with friends via social media. The fast pace brings satisfaction and enhanced social interaction, capturing the psychological needs of players and successfully achieving customer growth.
The Current Situation of the Indian Market Full of Opportunities and Challenges
Rapid Growth in Market Size and Number of Players
According to the 2024 fiscal year Indian Interactive Media and Gaming Research Report released by Lumikai, the Indian gaming market is in a phase of rapid growth, with the number of game players reaching 591 million. Game revenue grew by 23% year-on-year, reaching 3.8 billion US dollars, and the market size is expected to reach 11 billion rupees by 2025 and 9.2 billion US dollars by 2029.
Demographic Dividend Creates Market Opportunities
India is the second most populous country in the world, with a total population of over 1.4 billion, expected to reach 1.64 billion by 2050. Moreover, the population structure in India shows a trend of youthfulness, with teenagers under 35 accounting for over 65% of the total population. This segment is the largest audience for games, who are enthusiastic about games and like to try various innovative game types. This population base and characteristics are very beneficial for the development of the gaming industry.
Friendly Government Policies Support
To promote the overall advancement of the Indian gaming market, the government provides certain tax relief policies for the gaming industry, helping companies reduce operating costs and attracting more investors into the gaming industry. Additionally, there are changes and support in the ecosystem environment, with many states and localities actively participating in formulating related policies to jointly promote the development of the gaming industry.
Internet Development Promotes Diversified Development of the Gaming Market
The development of India's internet infrastructure has lowered the threshold for internet access and reduced bandwidth costs, allowing Indian users to more easily access smart devices. The smartphone penetration rate is also increasing, expected to exceed 1 billion by 2026.
As users surf the internet more, they encounter a richer variety of game types, promoting the diversified and innovative development of game types.
Increasing Willingness to Pay Among Users
Although the spending power of Indian players is lower compared to players in the US, Japan, and South Korea, their willingness to pay is gradually increasing. Over the past year, the number of paying users in the Indian market has grown from 140 million to 148 million. The user value has also increased from 19 US dollars to 22 US dollars. As long as users see the value obtained after paying, they will be willing to spend for a better gaming experience.
Policy Turbulence and Payment Issues are Challenges
While the industry is rapidly expanding, it also raises concerns about the regulation of the gaming industry. The process of entering the Indian market often faces policy fluctuations.
The policy environment in the Indian market is relatively complex, and policy changes are also frequent. Game manufacturers need to closely monitor policy changes to ensure game compliance and smooth listing.
The seemingly simple payment link is also a difficult point for many overseas manufacturers. Payment channels are the main channels for players to complete payment conversions and for gaming companies to increase revenue.
However, many overseas games encounter issues with payment security, official platform payment channel restrictions, payment costs, and payment compliance. Phenomena like the recent payment crash in India are also challenging problems, with complex underlying reasons.
Mainstream Payment Methods Locally
The main online payment methods in India include Unified Payments Interface (UPI), e-wallets, credit cards, and online banking. The unified interface is the mainstream payment method.
UPI, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, is a real-time payment system regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, aggregating most domestic bank channels and third-party payment platform channels. It allows users to make interbank transfers through mobile applications without needing bank account information.
Users only need to link their bank accounts and create a UPI ID (usually a mobile number or custom ID) to make payments.
UPI is applicable to various daily life scenarios, allowing instant transfers, 24/7 service, and payments to be completed in seconds. Transfers are mostly free, with minimal fees for interbank transfers, but the fees are very low. Indian players also commonly use UPI for in-game payments. Common UPIs include Google Pay, Paytm, MobiKwik, etc.
Key Points for Establishing a Presence in the Indian Market
Product and Gameplay Integration Innovation
For example, in card games, Rummy and Teen Patti have very similar user profiles and also have high popularity. Including these two and even more other types of card games can cover a large number of search keywords, increasing the exposure to the player group. In terms of specific gameplay, while keeping the core gameplay unchanged, using room opening, treasure chest drawing, spinning wheel lottery, and point ranking to enrich the user experience and improve retention and LTV.
Localization
Indian players have high demands for local culture and language in games, with more than half of the players hoping to see content reflecting Indian local culture in the game. India has 10 major ethnic groups and several minor ethnic groups, and the language is very complex, with 29 languages spoken by more than a million people. Therefore, in addition to the official languages Hindi and English, it is necessary to adjust the copy language according to the user source and perform regional localization in a timely manner. The successful game "Ludo King" provides multiple local languages in the game system to attract players from different regions of India.
India is a country with many festivals, including statutory holidays as well as ethnic and religious festivals, among which important festivals include Diwali, Holi, and Dussehra. Manufacturers can also set in-game activities according to different festival customs.
Comply with Local Laws and Regulations
To ensure smooth approval and listing of games, especially real money gambling games, developers need to ensure that the games do not violate India's sovereignty and integrity interests; prevent player addiction and mental harm through parental controls, frequent warning messages, and age rating systems; and warn players to opt out after reaching their time or money spending limits to reduce game addiction, minimize economic losses, and reduce the risk of financial fraud.
Expand Advertising Channels
In the current overseas environment, the cost of buying volume and acquiring customers continues to rise. In addition to starting with mainstream media such as Google and Facebook, multi-channel layout and creating a marketing matrix have become the trend. Choosing some Indian local or advantageous Indian market traffic channels for simultaneous placement is also a way to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
SHAREIt
SHAREIt is a one-stop high-quality digital content and cross-platform high-speed resource sharing platform frequently used by local users in India. The platform has accumulated more than 2.4 billion downloads, covering more than 200 countries and regions, and is known as a "national application" in markets such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Russian-speaking regions.
Telegram
India ranks first in traffic on Telegram, with a user base of 230 million. The user group is mainly concentrated between the ages of 23 and 35, and their income level is higher than the national average. Telegram is one of the platforms with the most lenient advertising policies, where products containing virtual currency, gambling games, or real money elements can find opportunities.
Appnext
Appnext is an independent application discovery platform under the Indian listed advertising platform Affle Group. The platform has established long-term close cooperation with globally renowned mobile manufacturers, mobile operators, and advertisers. It can recommend applications to global users 7 billion times a day, with over 500 million daily active users.
