With the COVID crisis deepening, OTT content, video calling and gaming are set to touch a new high
Indians love online gaming! According to the latest FICCI-EY report on media and entertainment, online gaming grew 18 per cent to hit Rs 77 billion in 2020 and gamers grew from 300 million in 2019 to 360 million in 2020. The COVID-induced lockdown gave a massive fillip to the adoption of digital gaming by Gen X and Gen Y and even older generations were forced to move to online games. This concept of social gaming and then esports (competitive video game competitions with an audience and live streaming) is how millions of people stayed sane during the lockdown. Now, with the second wave of the virus hitting India, forcing people indoors, consuming Over-The-Top (OTT) content, video calling and gaming are set to touch a new high. We pivoted in 2020 and that behaviour has become “normal” now. People want to try new games and consume more.
There are broadly three forms of gaming: Esports, casual and skill-based gaming and all are growing. Last year we saw the explosion of old-school formats like ludo or snakes and ladders. Fantasy sport is another crowd favourite and there’s no holding it back. In fact, the global fantasy football industry’s worth is expected to cross over $1 billion by 2026. As Chinese apps got banned, indigenous developers rushed to fill the vacuum and seize the opportunity. Multi-gaming platforms raised millions of dollars last year as they offered many games and gave more value to their players. Also, technological advances such as the combination of analytics and blockchain could completely disrupt the way the industry operates. With advertising monitoring, digital spending, technical upgrades, and online customer surveys growing, the fantasy sports market share is likely to observe promising growth. Then, at the end of 2020, as Netflix became our best friend, the show ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ based on the story of an accomplished chess player, became an unexpected hit. This led to a massive increase in the sale of chess sets and books online to millions watching the game being streamed on different platforms. Former world champion in blitz chess and world number two, Hikaru Nakamura, signed up with an e-sports team in the US and created an entirely new type of chess fan!
What has actually driven the rapid growth of online gaming in India has been the mobile phone and low data prices. India has the second- highest number of subscribers and highest data usage in the world. With handsets becoming easily available and customers getting excellent value, mobile gaming is where the action is. Gaming developers know that their customers will essentially play their game on mobile phones and on 4G and hence have to optimise offerings to suit them.
As we move into this time of rapid growth, and specially with gaming that permits wagers with money, it is essential that there is knowledge shared and education imparted as to what this entails. “Responsible Gaming” is an oft-used term that most gaming companies use and enforce, but it is imperative that the industry is together to ensure that correct communication and accurate information is shared with various stakeholders including regulatory and legal bodies. Gaming gives us so much: Education, rewards, recognition, a social outlet and the ability to connect with family across age segments. Setting up a nodal body to look after this important segment is a must.
As the pandemic shows little sign of abating we can safely say that online gaming is only going to increase. The FICCI-EY report forecasts that this segment will grow to Rs 155 billion by 2023. This is a great time to be in the gaming business because we are seeing many games being developed and new competitions being conducted. All in all it’s a great time to be a gamer. And if you’re not, then why not?
(The writer is CEO, WowChess. The views expressed are personal.)
