India, as a country with a huge population and diverse cultures, has a unique and potential gaming market that has attracted the attention of global game developers.
For a long time, the domestic perception of the Indian market remained focused on the explosive popularity of the mobile game "PUBG" and the disputes between Tencent, Krafton, and the Indian government.
However, if we look at specific rankings, it is not hard to see that Ludo games, represented by "Ludo King," have a strong presence in the Indian charts and almost dominate India's casual gaming track.
According to recent data from Sensor Tower and AppMagic, "Ludo King" has surpassed 1 billion global downloads, with nearly 80% of its users coming from India.
Ludo games, originally a traditional board game in India, have simple rules but also involve strategy.
Players roll dice to determine the number of steps their pieces move, aiming to get their pieces from the starting point to the central "home" area.
In the game, players can have 2 to 4 pieces, and through a combination of strategy and luck, they try to get all their pieces to the endpoint first.
During the game, if a player's piece lands on a square occupied by an opponent's piece, they can send the opponent's piece back to the start (somewhat like a simplified version of Ludo).
"Ludo King," currently the best-performing Ludo mobile game in India, and its company, Gametion, are also worth paying attention to.
Gametion was founded by Vikash Jaiswal in 2010 in India. Initially, Gametion focused on developing Flash games for computer systems. With the rise of the mobile gaming market, the company shifted to developing mobile gaming applications around 2013-2014 and achieved some success.
Besides "Ludo King" launched in 2016, Gametion has also developed other hit games, including "Carrom King" (a digital carrom game with over 75 million active installations), "Bubble King," "Color King," "Snakes & Ladders," and "Action King."
A recent report by Naavik delved into the reasons behind the success of "Ludo King" in the Indian market and how other developers can learn from its success.
Roski compiled the report in full. Those interested in the Indian market might find this article insightful and possibly gain different perspectives.
The Indian market dominated by Ludo games
The breakthrough of "Ludo King" with over 1 billion global downloads is no coincidence. Gametion's adaptation of this family-friendly board game, through a series of well-designed product strategies, has successfully won the hearts of Indian mobile gamers, achieving unprecedented popularity.
Sensor Tower data shows that "Ludo King" was the most downloaded game in India in the first three quarters of 2024 and ranked fourth in terms of active users.
Specifically, as shown below, India is its largest user base, accounting for nearly 80% of downloads:
It also performs well in Indonesia, contributing 6% of downloads and 10% of revenue. Nevertheless, India remains the main market, with net revenue exceeding 40%:
Why is Ludo popular?
Ludo is a board game extremely popular in the Indian subcontinent, cherished by children and adults for centuries.
This strong brand recognition is a significant advantage in today's user acquisition (UA) environment, as evidenced by "Ludo King" having more organic downloads than paid ones in the first half of 2024.
It is noteworthy that four of the top ten most profitable desktop games in India are Ludo games.
"Ludo King" effectively caters to its target audience and focuses on converting the board game into a mobile game. In other words, Indian players are getting the game they have known and loved all their lives, just in a digital form.
To adapt to mobile, Gametion has made the following adjustments to the original board game:
Firstly, simple and fast gameplay.
Gametion has successfully simplified the core gameplay of Ludo, introducing one-touch dice rolling and faster-paced game modes.
In the fast Ludo mode, a game only takes five minutes, while the traditional Ludo board game might take 30 to 90 minutes. This design also fits well with the gaming style of Indian mobile players, and the game interface is very clean and easy to use, allowing players to get started easily.
Secondly, social connectivity.
In its board game form, Ludo is inherently a social multiplayer game for 2 to 4 people. "Ludo King" introduces a multiplayer mode that supports up to 6 players at the same time, and like most social mobile games, players can connect with friends via social media.
Localization is crucial in the Indian market
The success of "Ludo King" in India is inseparable from its deep localization. Many publishers make a classic mistake when entering the Indian market: assuming India is a single market.
In reality, although India has a population of over 1.4 billion, it is a melting pot of diverse cultures and regional identities.
India has 22 official languages and 121 recognized languages, so localization in India involves more than just supporting Hindi, the official language.
"Ludo King" offers services in multiple regional languages to capture different audience groups across India and also engages in real-time operations during local festivals and cultural events, such as Diwali and Christmas.
Conclusion
Can the success of "Ludo King" in India be replicated by global publishers?
The answer is yes.
We have already seen mobile games like "PUBG," "Garena Free Fire," and "Candy Crush" achieve similar success in the Indian market.
One key to success in India is recognizing the uniqueness of Indian players and meeting their needs. Indian players have a natural affinity for deep social features, so games can quickly become popular there, and the market size brings huge potential for games.
Although this audience is challenging to monetize, Indian players respond well to ad monetization, especially reward video ads, and conversion-oriented IAP schemes.
Before launching a game in India, publishers must closely monitor the market, conduct user research, and take cultural differences seriously.
It is worth noting that the Indian gaming market is expected to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2025 and will continue to grow at a double-digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR). This data is significant and contains many opportunities.
