Gaming companies expect bumper returns from Diwali this year

With more than 9.33 billion mobile games which have been installed in the year 2022, India ranks as the second largest gaming market in the world, recording around 390 million online gamers in the year 2021, with nearly 95 million gamers paying to play. Given the huge potential for gaming, gaming apps and platforms were bullish on Diwali this year, especially real money gaming companies.

In the past year, the spends on gaming by brands increased by around 32%. Brands are reported to be spending more on in-game advertising. The recent decision of Google to allow real money gaming (RMG) apps under fantasy sports and rummy categories on its Play Store for one year is another reason for advertisers and gaming platforms to celebrate this festive season. Gaming brands have also been increasingly using mobile marketing as an effective tool for generating revenues and reaching substantial growth in the user base.

Playing card games during Diwali has become a custom today. Several gaming apps have launched unique campaigns for Diwali, including MPL, which launched the Diwali Lakhpati Party leading to 10,000 winners every hour. Participants can play virtual Diwali party games such as Carrom, Ludo, Rummy, on MPL, and thereby get the chance to win from a prize pool of Rs 40 crore, which is guaranteed. Some of the Diwali games in order to win real cash are Block Puzzle, Poker, Ludo Win, Rummy, T23Patti, Pictionary, Trivia, Tambola, Call Break, Bubble Shooter. MPL is also offering gamers the chance to play Rummy and win prizes from a prize pool of Rs 8 crore. Gamers get the opportunity to join contests such as poker tournaments, cash bash, money multipliers, or poker daily free events and others in order to get cash prizes from a prize pool of Rs 4 crore. Gamers also can get the chance the win up to Rs 10,000 on a daily basis from free Call Break games, including from a prize pool of Rs 1 crore in leaderboards and tournaments.

The Ludo Win game allows one to select either the dice game or the number game. The dice game allows one to beat an opponent with a greater score within four minutes, while the number game allows the gamers to catch the upcoming numbers on the bottom of the screen, with a chance to derive a greater score in 24 moves in order to win. Tambola, also called Bingo, is another game that gamers play during Diwali and win cash prizes.

Commenting on Witzeal Technologies’ Diwali strategy, Ankur Singh, CEO and Founder, Witzeal Technologies, said, “The tradition of playing card games on Diwali has been long-standing and has a lot of emotions attached to it. Festivals like these are a great way to spend time with our friends and family and indulging in some healthy competition. Since there are many people who work outside their cities, away from families, we wanted to offer the same experience but online. We at Witzeal endeavour to give a personal and enriched experience to our players to help them bridge these distances and rekindle the spirit of togetherness during festivals. We provide a platform for friends and families to play and bond together with private rooms and video-first features, making it easier for them to feel connected. We are also trying to attract new users by providing innovative cash backs offers and multiple tournaments.”

Commenting on the move by Google play store to allow Rummy and Fantasy games on its platform, he said, “Google’s policy change is a welcome move as it indicates the positive position of skill-based gaming, in line with the judgements pronounced by the courts. This move will help the gaming operators to increase visibility and trust amongst the users and assist Government in policy framing by means of the transparent data interface.”

“Festive season is an extremely auspicious opportunity for any brand. Adda52 as a brand is extremely conscious about the interests of the consumers. Considering these moments of festivities, Adda52 has come up with a lot of surprises for the players to add cheers to the celebration. We have come up with Diwali Bonanza weekly prize along with the Diwali Dhamaka freeroll tournament, where people can participate for free and win from the prize pool of Rs 5 lakh,” said Krishnendu Guha, Chief Revenue Officer, Adda52.

He further added, “Adda52 has been active throughout the festive season with its engaging brand campaigns. In the month of August, we launched the ‘Khel Jaao’ campaign with the aim to democratize poker. Before Diwali, to keep the buzz high, we onboarded Kieron Pollard for our ‘Poker Nights With Stars’ campaign, where players are going to get a chance to play with Kieron Pollard. Diwali or any other festival is a crucial time for any brand to engage with their target audience. Hence, focussing on live campaigns or tournaments can prove to be a vital strategy for the brands. During the festive season, we witness a 15-20% growth in the daily active users on our platform. During the festive season, apart from other entertainment options, card games are among the feasible and interesting lucrative activities. It has gained more popularity with the ease in the accessibility of Internet, which in turn brings the enthusiasm to play online games.”