Online gaming industry in India is growing at a rapid pace. Millions of people across the country play online games for different reasons — some to kill time, some to challenge oneself, some to learn new tactics, some to pursue it as a serious career option and so on. This growth in the online gaming market is driven by factors like- frictionless payments, high youth population, affordable new technologies, vast internet reach and growing local developer ecosystem. The country is home to one-tenth of the world's gamers and the number of game-development companies here has gone from just 25 in 2010 to 250 today. At this pace, KPMG report states that the industry is expected to gain momentum and reach a market value of $1 billion and 310 million online gamers by 2021.
The KPMG report also states that puzzles and action games are the most popular amongst the online games. Companies and entrepreneurs are observing this fondness for games by the people and hence a lot of effort is being made by them indeveloping new games and updating the existing ones.This has naturally led to an array of new job opportunities in the gaming industry too. Game art professionals are in great demand across the entire world, resulting in huge employment potential for young aspirants within India. The job opportunities shall continue to grow as India develops into an outsourcing hub for international gaming companies.
There are many career choices in this industry too. Following are few of the many options:
Game Developer: As the name suggests, the professional who builds the gaming interface is known as the game developer. He/she is involved in the conception as well as the execution of the game and is required tobe proficient in programming languages, such as java or C++.Coding, programming and designing are the key areas of work for a game developer. A degree ofB.techin Computer Science is a must for becoming a professional game developer.
Designer: Another new career opportunity is that of a game designer. A game designer specialises in any of the following areas - game, narration and/or sound. A degree in Animation or Graphic Designing is required for becoming a designer.
Game Designer: A game designer conducts market research to analyze the viability and acceptability of games in the market. He/she alsochalks out the elements of the game such as characters, concept, rules, etc. Typically, he/sheworks with a team to design the game.
Narrative Designer — A narrative designer provides the narration to the game and adds elements that make the game appear more realistic.
Sound Designer — As the name suggests, a sound designerprovides the sound effects in the game such as that of a gunshot, characters jumping, laughing, boxing, distributing cards in a poker game, background score etc.
Animator: This person on one hand creates animated characters for the game and on the other hand, creates the animations in thegame such asthe game environment, hurdles, journey etc.
Game Tester: Aprofessional checks the game before it goes live.It includes playing the game repeatedlyto ensure the game is smooth and free of bugs. It is a fun yet tedious task.
Game Critic: A game critic like any other critics gives reviews about the game. This person is a cross between a gamer and a writer; and has a thorough understanding of the game. Extensive experience in the gaming industry is an important requirement for the job.
There are several other career prospects. Several gamers join the industryas a player or a company-contracted player, through eSports Tournamentssuch as PUBG tournaments, Poker Tournaments and so on. Tournament is agreat opportunity to represent oneself in a national/international arena and compete with like players for aprize amount.Another career opportunity being a trainer and teach the skills of the game to the amateurs.
The writer is Mohit Agarwal, CEO and Co-founder, Adda52.com
