Gaming in India

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Everyday tensions and work engagements have led people to steadily opt for different kinds of leisure activities spared for little precious time they get. Gaming is one such option, where the game lovers find their way to relaxation and engage in fun activities. If we look at India, movies feature as one of the predominant entertainment options amongst the Indian consumers. However, amongst the younger audience, gaming is fast gaining popularity as the preferred entertainment, and is on a whooping growth curve.

Although, the Indian Gaming market is very small when compared to other developed countries such as the US, Japan, Korea and China, it is predominantly on a visible growth path. The world is looking towards India as a gaming hub and it is believed that India is well placed to leverage this opportunity. Indian gaming industry has outpaced the growth rates of its counterparts and the last few years have seen the industry evolve and mature to deliver high standard. 2008 was the year when India witnessed the Gaming Revolution. The period has been decisive as it has laid the foundation for the future. With large investments being made in creating infrastructure in content, distribution & access, the industry is fast gaining momentum. By the end of 2008, the gaming industry in India is expected to value at USD 212 million expected to reach USD1060 million by 2012 at a CAGR of 50% (- Nasscom)

Games can be categorized as online games (casual games, Massively Multiplayer Online Games – MMOG, Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games – MMORPG), console games and mobile games. Some reports and estimates have quantified the revenues from online gaming at approximately INR 21 crores (Jan 2007, IAMAI research) and those from console gaming at approximately INR 600 crores. Internet penetration in India is growing rapidly and so is the mobile user base. Increasingly, newer mobile devices are capable of internet access and so are telecom networks preparing for richer data services with the imminent launch of 3G services. These trends makes gaming a very attractive opportunity.

Fantasy gaming, which is based largely on sports, is a fairly new genre of entertainment in India. Fantasy games can be slotted in the online games category and these game formats present a huge opportunity to grow the category. Typically, Fantasy Games have provided an opportunity for sports fans to get closer to the game by playing the role of a team manager. Users get to choose their players and manage their teams for each sport. The game formats have proven to be extremely sticky and repeat usage is very high. Globally fantasy sports is a fairly well established category. Markets like the US and UK have had fantasy games for a number of years now. Infact in the US, they even have a trade association for fantasy sports providers called FantasySports Trade Association (www.fsta.org). It is estimated that that in the US, the economic impact of fantasysports is in the USD 2-3 billion range and it continues to be a growing market.

Online Fantasy gaming first made its mark in India with the launch of ESPN-Star"s Super Selector in 2001. Since then Fantasy Gaming has grown in leaps and bounds with many new entrants in the market .With sports and cricket being a craze in the country most of these fantasy games have been created with a theme of sports in it. Fans of sports these days are no longer satisfied by just watching the game or following scores on TV with various websites offering them a choice

As media habits change and digital mediagainsground,sports fans will use these emerging media to consume sports and follow their passion.Fantasy sports leverages the power of the internet andhas the potential to be the leading entertainment category in thedigital sports marketingdomain. There are various players in the online fantasy gaming providers viz. presino.com, playcricketonline.com, indianfantasyleague.com etc.

Fantasy gaming is a fairly new genre of entertainment in the context of online gaming in India. It has created a niche for the lovers of the sports fraternity to stay engaged and be in the game of their favourite sports. Presino.com (a Bangalore based start up ) aims to become the premier destination for sports fans and it offers games across sports like cricket, football, F1, NFL. All these games offered by Presino and most fantasy gaming portals are based on real sport rather than imaginary one (although 'fantasy' is used to describe this genre of gaming!)

This article is written by Ms. Latha Iyer, CEO, Presino.com.