Video gaming in India is an emerging market since India is experiencing strong growth in online gaming, making it one of the top gaming markets in the world. Over the past few decades, the Indian gaming industry has gone from close to nonexistent in the 1990s to one of the top markets globally in the late 2010s. In 2019, the online gaming market in India was estimated at with an estimated 300 million gamers, a 41.6% increase from 2018. As of 2021, it is one of the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. By the third quarter of 2020 there were more than 7.4 billion mobile game downloads. The industry is projected to reach 510 million gamers by 2022.
Video game development in India is still underdeveloped compared to other Asian countries, such as China and South Korea. However, the growing amount of gamers in India has attracted interest from global video game companies. As investments from international video game companies continue to rise, more global game studios such as Ubisoft and Microsoft Games have opened offices in India. Local Indian game studios are also steadily growing. India went from 15 game development studios to 275 from 2009 to 2021. The growing presence of video games in India has led to bans and regulations on gaming imposed by the Indian government.
History
Growth of gaming devices
In India, video games used to only be available at video game parlours, where games came in the form of coin-operated machines. In the 1990s, 8-bit NES clones that ran on cartridges were introduced to India. Each cartridge contained many classic games like Super Mario Bros or Contra. These game consoles allowed people to play games inside their homes, which sparked the initial growth of the popularity of video games in India.
In the mid-to-late-90s, sales in personal computers skyrocketed and replaced the 8-bit consoles. Players were also now able to install games on PCs rather than purchase cartridges. The PC remains one of the most popular devices for games today, with 87% of surveyed gamers preferring it over mobile gaming. The PlayStation also remains fairly popular, though not as much as the PC since console games tend to cost more.
In the 2000s, mobile devices became more common in India. This caused a huge growth in gaming because most smartphones had access to mobile games. In 2020, there were 696 million smartphone users, compared to 2013 where there were 76 million users. India expects to reach 970 million users by 2025.
Growth of the gaming industry
Cyber cafés, which are cafés offering public Internet access, contributed to the growth of India's video game market. In 2006, there were over 100,000 cyber cafés, 40% of which were used to play online games. In 2008, there were 180,000 cyber cafés, but by 2017, the number declined to 50,000. One of primary reasons for decline was the IT Act, which caused licensing issues and other restrictions.
Video game studios have been sprouting in India, most notably in Bangalore, which is often called the "Silicon Valley of India." In 2009, there were only 15 game development studios in India. As of 2021, there are 15,000 game developers and 275 game developing companies in India. Technology and gaming companies began investing in India's gaming industry after seeing its potential. Large game conventions began to be hosted in India when its industry was projected to earn in 2014. Indian colleges also began offering game design and development courses to students, which led to younger generations joining the industry and an increase in game developers.
Local industry
Video games produced in India
The first PlayStation 2 video game completely created in India, Hanuman: Boy Warrior, was based on Hindu mythology and followed the story of the Hindu God Hanuman. This game was developed by Aurona Technologies Limited, a gaming studio located in Hyderabad. The release of the game was controversial because it was criticized for disrespecting the Hindu religion. Hindu leader, Rajan Zed, was vocal in the criticism of the game.
Hanuman was later followed by Don 2: The Game, a tie-in to the film of the same name. Besides being released for the PlayStation 2 (also serving as the final PAL region release for the console overall), Don 2 was also released for the PlayStation Portable.