Have been a big fan of video games since my childhood…Remember the small battery powered game that my aunt gifted me when she came in from the Middle East and I remember playing my heart out on the same till the screen gave away…Also remember when computers came about and me being an ardent player of Road Rash.
But what has caught my fancy of late is the fact that Online gaming industry has grown by almost 60% in the last one year and is expected to grow at almost 40 % every year for the next three years outpacing the growth of even digital media.
Let’s start with some interesting statistics for India…
1. Online gamers in India grew by 52% to reach 278 million in 2018
2. Online gaming revenues grew by 59% to reach Rs 49 billion in 2018
3. Five Million Game apps were downloaded in 2018 which accounted for 71% of total entertainment app downloads
Further, the access to online gaming is either through mobiles or through laptops/desktops.
Today mobile gamers contribute to 250 million of the 278 million which contributes to almost 90% of the user base and with increasing and fast conversion feature phones to smart phones and the improvement in data availability the growth potential is immense which justifies the growth potential shown for the coming years.
Further the average monthly time spend by gamers has also increased by 17% to reach 5 hours per user per month ..If you consider the fast pace of growth of the base this is substantial increase in time spend clearly showing the addictive nature of these games which augurs well for the industry.
The type of online gamers can be broadly classified into
1. Casual Gamers
These are gamers who play games like Ludo king and who do not pay anything to the game owners for playing the games. The primary source of revenue for casual gaming companies is advertising and hence advertising contributes to 95% of revenue of these companies. Though skeptics have always questioned this business model and whether these companies will ever make money casual gaming grew 40% to reach Rs 22.4 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach Rs 49 billion by 2021.
2. Real Money Gamers
Real money games include fantasy sports, rummy poker where the user has to pay or make in-app purchases to play the games. Since this is still in its infancy, advertising contributes almost 80% of the total revenue of real time gaming companies.
Real money gaming grew 82% to reach Rs 26 billion in 2018 and is expected to continue growing at 40% to reach Rs 71 billion by 2021.
Real money games provide a chance for the user to win back more or the same amount of the money that they have paid to play the game. About 12% of the user base has started paying for playing these kind of games. Though this number is still very small it is expected to grow and the interest grows…
Some interesting trends of the same are as below
1. 67% of all smart phone users play some kind of games
2. Average time spend playing games is around 15 to 30 minutes a day
3. 85% people played the game as a source of entertainment while 73% played the game as a source of stress relief
4. 62% played games during work breaks,48% during travelling…this I could relate to instantly because I always find people playing on flights and in Mumbai local trains…
5.This will be music to Real money game creators…65% of real money gamers were willing to Rs 100 per session to play these games…
The top 10 Gaming Apps of 2018 based on MAU (Monthly active users) are
1. Ludo King
2. Candy Crush
3. PUBG Mobile
4.Clash of Clans
5. Doodle army 2
6. Subway Surfers
7. Ball Pool
8. Temple Run 2
9. World Cricket Championships 2
10. Clash Royale
Some of the key international gaming companies which are establishing and growing presence in India are as below… Have tried to pick the key ones in each of the categories
1. NVIDIA – Looking at opening 100 gaming cafes in India in 2019
2. AG Tech Media (Alibaba) – has launched Gamepind an online gaming platform offering variety of social and casual games with exclusive loyality rewards to users within the paytm app. Likely to launch a separate new app in 2019
3. Yoozoo – Is teaming up with Sunny Leone and Gamiana company to launch an online game in social casino genre.
4. APUS – Has launched Go Millionaire online game in the quiz genre in India…Has plans to give away Rs 40 Million as cash prize to the winners
5. Tencent – Has invested $ 100 Million is Mumbai based Fantasy sports company Dream 11.
Dream 11 brings us to fantasy sports and the sector that I believe will outperform all other genres in the online gaming industry.
In fantasy sport is a type of online game where users assemble teams of real players of professional sports. These virtual teams then compete based on the statistical performance of real players based on actual games.
There are two models of fantasy sports being provided by the various companies which has grown to 70 in no period of time.
1. Free to Play
As the name suggests these games allow users to play free contests which may or may not be associated with cash prizes
2. Pay to Play
In this segment the users have to pay an entry fee to participate in the game
The key operators in this segment are
1. Dream 11
2. My team 11
3. 11Wickets
4. Star Pick
5. Fantan
Being a cricket crazy nation this is one segment which I expect to reach tipping point very fast if the various players in the field start pricing their products very aggressively…
They key players in this segment should remember the earlier examples of how telecom companies smartly introduced small recharge packs to grow usage and affordability or of how FMCG companies used the Rs 5 sachet model in shampoos to grow the industry aggressively…
Since several of the people were playing games during work breaks and while commuting the content creators should also smartly look at introducing 10 minute…20 minute games …maybe the T 20 of the fantasy gaming industry…
What will also enable the growth of the sector is also the Haryana High Court ruling which declared fantasy sports as not a gambling sport and one which requires substantial degree of skill.
The adoption of Virtual Reality and multi players games are also expected to increase the involvement of the players is also starting to happen.
With the penetration of internet and broadband expected to substantially in India in the next few years and with companies fighting with each other to bring in cheaper and better smart phones to take over the feature phone users the future growth potential of the industry is immense
Also, with 50% of India’s population being under 25 and 65% under 35 the potential user base is just unimaginable…
Am sure every Indian in this age group has always wanted to play like a Sachin Tendulkar or a MS Dhoni or a Virat Kohli so these fantasy leagues could be the gateway to the fulfilment of all their dreams…
Watch this space for more…
