Introduction
In 2020, as a part of the Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat mission, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the country’s need to tap the huge potential and lead the international digital gaming sector. He further discussed the need to develop games inspired from Indian culture and folk tales. Less than five years later, Statista projected a revenue of $3,172.00 million in 2024 from the Video Games market in India. The number along with the government’s interest in India’s gaming industry, is reason enough to discover the game development industry in India. This blog will give you an overview of the Game Development industry in India, its present, and its future scope.
Statistical Highlights of Indian Game Development Market
The Indian Game Development industry has seen extraordinary growth in the past few years thanks to the rise of new game development ventures, both individual and organization level. The gaming market in India went from $0.8 billion dollars in 2019 to $2.6 billion dollars in 2022. Moreover, it is projected to reach $8.6 billion dollars by 2027.
Source: Statista
Let’s look at a few key highlights from Statista’s insights about video games in India:
- Online Games, with a market volume of $1,467 million, is the largest market segment within the Video Games market in India in 2024.
- The Indian Video Games market revenue is expected to reach $3,172 million by 2024.
- By 2027, it projects a volume of $4,420 million by 2027.
- The Video Games market is expected to have 167.7 million users by 2027.
Although India still struggles with limited access to high-speed internet and a liking for mobile gaming, there has been great movement in the direction of collaborations between studios in the Indian gaming industry. As a result, the future of gaming infrastructure in India looks positive.
Indie Game Development Scenario in India
Independent game development companies are experiencing exciting transformation as the gaming market continues to expand both in popularity and demand. Indie games are created by small teams or even independent developers and are known to explore innovative gameplays. As a result, games like Among Us and Stardew Valley have gained much popularity among young players.
Many game development studios in India are also a part of the indie game development landscape. As of 2020, there were at least 300 game companies in India and these were not just testing games, but also making games for MNCs. Pyrodactyl Games’ indie game Unrest from 2014 that was set in a fantasy Indian setting and focused on everyday life characters from rural areas.
Source: Pyrodactyl
Here are some more games developed by Indian indie game developers:
- Yodha by Ogre Head Games
- Asura by Ogre Head Studio
- Heroes Must Die by VishwaKarma Studios
- Lovely Planet by QUICKTEQUILA
- Possessions by Lucid Labs
Dominance of Mobile Gaming in India
While it is true that playing on a gaming console or a PC offers smooth and unparalleled gaming experience, mobile gaming has been on the rise in recent years. According to the 2023 India Games Market report by Niko, India was the fastest growing video games market in Asia in 2023 both in terms of gamers and revenue. With a CAGR of 10.1% over a five-year span, the Indian gaming community is expected to grow to 641.2 million by 2027, and mobile gaming will have the most to contribute to the figure. The report highlighted that India is a mobile first market with 96.8% of total gamers playing on a smartphone or tablet.
Source: Niko
Honor of Kings is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that recorded a revenue of more than 103 million U.S. dollars through just in-app purchases in 2023. Although the game is only available in China, it was the top-grossing mobile worldwide in November 2023.
Government Initiatives for the Game Development Market in India
With the Indian Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) industry gaining healthy momentum in the recent years, it has become crucial to develop an ecosystem for the industry to boost domestic game building, collaborations with academia, co-production, technology, and promotes policy and research.
As a result, the India government announced the formation of the AVGC Task Force during the Budget Speech 2022-23. The task force aims to offer employment and support to the youth in the AVGC sector in India. Let’s look at the key highlights of the recommendations given by the AVGC Taskforce.
The AVGC Sector in India
The AVGC Taskforce Report for 2023 indicates that the Media and Entertainment (M&E) Industry is expected to grow at a CAGR OF 8.8% by 2026, and within it, the AVGC sector can grow between 14-16% in the next 10 years. The sector is emerging as an important growth engine of India’s economy. The Indian Animation and VFX industries have been consistently creating animated features and series that have attracted global attention. Approximately 50% of Indian Animation and VFX studios will adopt real-time technology or virtual production by 2025.
Gaming Sector
The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst to the already growing gaming segment in India. The reports suggests that India is expected to become one of the world’s leading markets in the gaming industry.
Educational Initiatives
The rising popularity of gaming and the AVGC sector in India has made it imperative to increase investment in AVGC education, which at present has no apex institute in India. Although there has been in increase in university courses, there are very few colleges (only 139) across India for students to access knowledge easily.
Moreover, the courses offered are theoretical, which also calls for the need to introduce industry-relevant programs. The experts emphasized the need to have a curriculum which would act as a foundation for aspirants seeking to carve their career in AVGC. It also hints at gaming education in India to allow certificate, diploma, and degree level courses with an aim to make education more accessible.
Challenges Faced by the AVGC Sector in India
- There is no verifiable data for the AVGC sector.
- There is a skill gap in the education and the employment sector.
- There is absence of adequate training infrastructure for AVGC education.
- India lacks the holistic academic curriculum for ACGC programs.
- There is not enough research and development in the AVGC-XR sector.
- There is no AVGC academic reference point in India.
- There is a need to encourage entrepreneurship in the AVGC sector.
- There is no national level policy framework for AVGC-XR sector in India.
- There is not enough funding for the AVGC-XR sector.
- There are very few globally popular Indian IPs.
Solutions offered by the AVGC taskforce
- Public and private sector collaboration for increased employment opportunities
- Integrated approach from multiple ministries in India to improve the AVGC sector
- Recommendations to the national curriculum framework to improve AVGC courses
- Facilitation of progressive policies to promote the AVGC sector
- Recommendations to align the Indian AVGC sector with its international counterparts
- Support co-innovation, incentives concentrated promotion, and robust AVGC infrastructure
Game Development Companies in India
Orion Infosolutions
It is a leading mobile game development company in India. With a team of highly skilled developers, designers, and artists, they have created a wide range of successful games for iOS and Android. Their expertise lies in developing visually stunning and immersive 2D and 3D, iOS, and Android gaming experiences.
Abhiwan Technology
It offers game development solutions on various platforms. Abhiwan is known to have a client centric approach and an expertise in developing multiplayer and multiplatform educational, 2D, 3D, AR/VR, Metaverse games, and more.
Cognizant
The company is famous for integrating gaming into learning and development programs. Cognizant creates high-quality games that have been critically acclaimed for their story. Game of Pods is a gamification platform by Cognizant Softvision that has become a performance ecosystem that brings together software engineers into teams that work towards common goals.
Indium Software
iXie is the gaming division of Indium Software. It began as a game testing company in 2011 and today offers end-to-end gaming services across the game development lifecycle. iXie has more than 700 games onboard and also has a training academy that has veterans in the gaming industry. It has developed a wide range of games, including casual, multiplayer, and virtual reality titles.
Juego Studios
It is a game development outsourcing studio that started as a game design company in 2013 but has now expanded to a fully-fledged technology venture that employs game developers, AR/VR specialists, IoT experts, designers, artists, and animators. The studio is known for games with a strong artistic vision, great visuals, and immersive gameplay. School of Dragon, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Tree World, and Baby Einstein are games developed by Jeugo.
Logic Simplified
It is a multiplatform game development company that offers services such as game design, game development, game testing, as well as game marketing. The company has garnered attention for presenting innovative game designs and captivating storytelling. Kitchen Clout, Turtle Diary, Corporate Life, TRAP FALL Adventures, Gametino, and On Second Thought are some games developed by the company.
Tech Mahindra
The tech giant joined the gaming landscape in 2015 by putting together a team to develop platforms for game builders. It has developers and engineers that create multiplayer and online games. Tech Mahindra’s games are popular for their competitive gameplay and strong community engagement. In 2022, it also launched Cloud Gaming as a Service through its cloud-based platform powered by Ludium Labs.
Octro
Octro was founded in 2006 and has created a variety of skill-based and free to play casual games. Carrom Live, War of Words, Yuddhbhoomi, Ludo Live, are some titles created by Octro.
Emergence of Gaming Academies
India presently has less than 200 colleges that offer Game Designing/Developpement courses. Chandigarh University, Amity University, Parul University (Vadodara), Arena Creative Campus, Jayanagar, NID, Bengaluru, and IIT Nagpur are some places offering a variety of courses in game designing.
The eSports industry has grown rapidly over the last 10 years. The Asian Games 2022 and Commonwealth Games 2022 recently integrated the Esports sector as a medal sport and a pilot event, respectively. In 2023, India’s first online gaming academy, MP State Esports Academy, conducted a talent search that received an overwhelming response. There were video game tournaments and a prize money up to $45 million to help youngsters aged 12-17 to turn their passion into a profession.
Apart from the courses offered by universities and private institutes, there has been an increase in online and offline specialized game-development certifications, collaborations with the experts in the gaming industry, indie game development, government incentives, game development incubators, and skill development programs to polish the gaming industry landscape in India.
Must Read: HOW TO BECOME A GAME DEVELOPER?
Game Developer Salary in India
We have shared enough information about where India stands as a Game Developer’s home, and where it is headed based on data from renowned experts. However, what can help you instantly evaluate Game Development as a potential career option in India is the compensation it offers for various job profiles. Let’s take a quick look at some game developer salaries shared by Glassdoor.
| Job Role | Average Annual Salary in INR |
|---|---|
| Game Developer | ₹ 24,73,460 |
| Game Designer | ₹ 28,51,004 |
| Senior Game Programmer | ₹14,50,000 |
| 3D Animator | ₹13,96,800 |
| System Designer | ₹16,90,000 |
| Illustrator | ₹ 7,80,000 |
| Gameplay Programmer | ₹5,75,000 |
| Character Designer | ₹4,56,000 |
| 3D Game Developer | ₹2,65,000 |
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Does Game Development have a Future in India?
India’s gaming industry is projected to reach a market value of $3.5 billion by 2024. With the rise in youngsters attracted to gaming as a hobby and profession, there has been a substantial increase in Indian students opting for game development courses and related fields. More and more Indian IT students are studying game development, AI and ML, and signing up for courses and certifications related to the AVGC industry. Additionally, the GOV’s AVGC Taskforce report highlights and suggestions are clear indicators that the future of Game Development industry looks robust. The competitive salaries offered for various game development job profiles further indicate an upward trend for the Game Development in India. If you are game developer looking for amazing work opportunities, then sign up with Olibr now!
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FAQs
Indie games offer opportunities to small game studios and individual game developers to transform their ideas into working games.
Many prestigious institutes offer diplomas and certificates for a variety of game development courses.
It depends on the institute offering the course. You can get a Diploma in Game Programming from Diploma in Game Programming for INR 1,99,000.
- Programming Skills
- Software Development
- User Interface Design
- Database Design
- Problem Solving Aptitude
- Creativity & Time Management Skills
