Gaming to be a key contributor to India’s $5 tr economy dream: AIGF’s Roland Landers

India today is the world’s second largest gaming market, however, in terms of app downloads India is the world’s largest mobile gaming market. As per Statista, the country recorded 421 million online gamers in the year 2022, an 8% growth over 2021. This number is expected to reach over 442 million by 2023.

Pegged at $3.02 billion in 2023, Mordor Intelligence’s report expects the gaming market size in India to reach $6.26 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 15.68%. The report states that the growing IT infrastructure, driven by the rising use of smartphones and high-speed Internet, is one of the major factors driving the market growth rate in the country.

Emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, wider implementation of 5G, etc., are poised to usher in a new renaissance in the country’s gaming industry.

At the same time, the industry is also facing some challenges – the most pertinent of them being the 28% GST for the gaming industry. There are also legal issues, wherein the courts in some states are banning some formats of money-based gaming and often the demarcation of skill-based and online betting games is blurred.

The third edition of GAMEXX 2023 was held on Friday, September 15, amid such a dynamic scenario and aimed to explore the new frontiers in gaming. In a short period, GAMEXX has come to be a hub where professionals, enthusiasts and industry leaders converge to celebrate the limitless potential of gaming.

Delivering his opening keynote address, Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), remarked that GAMEXX 2023 had once again brought together stakeholders across the gaming ecosystem, which comprised of game developers, publishers, marketers, gamers, investors and tech service providers, “which is pretty much the representation that we are at AIGF are extremely interested in and also have forums for”.

He added, “It’s a good coincidence between AIGF and GAMEXX. We are happy to join hands once again with Adgully as the industry partner for this event. AIGF is the oldest and the largest and the most diverse industry body, that looks at the interests of the entire online gaming ecosystem and pretty much covers everything that exists within the framework of the online gaming industry. We are also pleased and happy to welcome luminaries who are here, representing various fields within the industry, and this platform will give a great opportunity for all these representatives to speak about and discuss strategies around growth and also what all new innovations can come about and are happening presently within the industry.”

Just to give some high level stats of the industry in India, Landers noted that needless to say, the industry is seeing unparalleled growth, specially in comparison to other sectors or segments within the media and entertainment landscape. “Consistent within the last five years, online gaming has been one of the key performers within these segments that make up the media and entertainment sector. Global revenues from gaming, mobile and console has seen a 12% CAGR between 2019 and 2023, as compared to 6% CAGR from using it for films and television,” he noted.

Continuing further, giving an overview of the growth and recent developments in India’s gaming industry, Landers elaborated, “All the indicators clearly show the growing trend for online gaming industry as a preferred destination for gamers to get their dose of entertainment from. India is a mobile-first gaming market and we have seen a massive uptick with the ease of access being enabled by low cost smartphones and Internet connection and 86% share of the mobile gaming market in India. However, the Indian online gaming market is a $1.5 billion sunrise sector, with 38% CAGR all set to reach $5 billion by 2025. This has been a key contributor to the Startup India movement, with over 950 gaming start-ups, three gaming Unicorns and over 15,000 game developers.”

Speaking on the 28% GST, he noted, “There has been a recent development on the GST front, and that also can be seen as positive development, as there was indirect taxation – both direct and indirect taxation have now been clearly established and so there remains no ambiguity. Similarly, as far as regulation is concerned also, there is complete clarity now with the Ministry of IT and Electronics, setting up the self regulatory bodies for regulating this industry.”

Coming back to the high level numbers with the introduction of 5G, Landers felt that there is going to be a widespread uptick of esports in emerging markets like India, where the PC penetration is low, being a price sensitive market. Gaming laptops and PCs, consoles, continue to be prohibitive. Smartphones are a preferred choice as a device for gaming in India and with 5G, this will create a smoother gaming experience for all the gamers. “AR and VR will come into play and become more accessible to gamers and speed struggles with regards to cloud gaming will cease to be a problem. All of these clearly indicate, that things are looking extremely positive for the industry just as it has been over the last five years,” he affirmed.

He also noted that as a market, India is only 1% of the global market share, compared to 23% and 25% market shares belonging to the US and China, respectively. He added that there are hardly any Indian titles in the list of top grossing and top gaming apps on the popular stores. “With over 400 million users and 22.5 billion revenues, the entirety of the online gaming ecosystem is only equivalent to the revenue of one leading gaming title, which is international gaming title. So, one can see the stark difference, but at the same time, there is a huge opportunity that exists for us as a market,” he further said.

Landers affirmed that the Indian online gaming market definitely has the potential to be a disruptor, and there is opportunity for India to be a market leader in the mobile gaming sector. At the same time, he also said that at this particular juncture, there are several challenges present before the industry, given the diversity of the stakeholders and the different needs that exist. “AIGF has been at the forefront over the last seven years since its inception and has been witness to most of these challenges, but we are hopeful that as an industry, collectively we will be able to sum out these and together work towards contributing towards this $5 trillion digital economy very soon,” he added.

Coming to within this ecosystem, specifically the AVGC goals, the task force was set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with the specific objective of promoting these four key areas within the gaming ecosystem. Landers said that reports suggest that the task force that was released in December 2022, looks towards holistic promotion of the gaming sector with skill development, and creation of financial viability, access to technology and other incubation programs. “So, all of these really auger well for the overall AVGC ecosystem. Draft policies at the state and national level have been introduced for AVGC XR and AIGF has been continuously providing inputs and works towards relevant central and state government authorities in this regard. As we speak, some of those states are in the process of developing of their AVGC policies, and are seeking inputs. AIGF is right at the forefront of providing inputs to them. The effort undertaken by the AVGC task force makes it clear that India is well supported in the part towards putting Indian gaming on the global map. We are already seeing several Indian stories being told through games, such as Raji specially coming from a team of Indian developers. Gaming and game development have proved to be integral towards achievement of India’s dream to be a $5 trillion economy, it will be a key contributor. As an industry, we have seen a great deal of upward trends within the industry. We remain hopeful that today’s conversation will aid all our efforts towards making India a key player in the global gaming ecosystem.”