Skip to main content

India’s online casual gaming segment set to grow at a CAGR of 29%

Online gaming is one sector that has benefited enormously in post-pandemic India. Thanks to restricted mobility and fewer entertainment options, consumers have taken to gaming like never before. Girish Menon, partner and head (media and entertainment) at KPMG India, takes a look at what is making this sector tick, along with key takeaways for marketers.

The online gaming segment has grown at a rapid pace over the last three or four years in varying degrees across the globe and is now competing with traditional forms of entertainment for consumer attention. Even as Covid-19-induced lockdowns had an adverse impact on the economy and traditional segments of the M&E industry, online gaming is one of the unique sectors that got a leg up in terms of both consumption and monetization.

The India story has been particularly standout in terms of the overall growth shown by the segment. According to a recent report launched by consulting firm KPMG to better understand the burgeoning casual gaming market in India, the overall online casual gaming sub-segment in India stood at a size of INR 60bn in FY21 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 29% over FY21-25 to reach a size of INR 169bn.

What’s in store?  

  • As per KPMG findings, India had the highest game downloads in the casual mobile gaming sub-segment in the world (excluding China) in 2020, with Q1-Q3 2020 downloads standing at 7.3bn, accounting for 17% of global mobile game downloads. Now that is a huge consumption basket for a relatively new segment.

  • Furthermore, monthly active users for the top 100 mobile games and the time spent on online gaming are higher by 10-15% post lockdown 2020, indicating the establishment of a new normal where gaming is fast becoming an accepted form of entertainment.

Decoding India’s gaming market

Size: As per the report findings, the online casual gaming sub-segment is the most significant part of the overall gaming segment and is pegged at INR 60bn in FY21, accounting for ~44% of total online gaming revenues.

User base: In terms of users, the online casual gaming sub-segment, at 420 million gamers in FY21, accounted for ~97% of total gamers in India and is expected to maintain this share by FY25 going ahead, as per the findings of the KPMG report.

Key growth drivers: The gaming industry has been thriving due to many favorable factors: increasing smartphone and internet penetration, an increase in the supply of world-class titles, games with localized content, and new features such as multiplayer and social elements. These have all catalyzed the growth of gaming in India and made it a mainstream entertainment option.

Of course, the biggest driver has been the Covid-19-induced lockdowns that acted as the tipping point in unlocking the power of online casual gaming.

Here are three trends that are likely to define the future of gaming in India: 

Cloud gaming will make it more accessible: As the launch of 5G services becomes a soon-to-happen event, it could also lead to some far-reaching changes for the gaming segment. Cloud gaming could be the way forward and help transform the gaming experience for users, taking device capabilities out of the picture. This factor could be extremely critical for markets like India, with limited capacity to invest in hardware.

AI will make it more intelligent: Increasingly AI is being used across game development (using AI-generated storylines), player engagement, interactive experiences across gameplay, and personalization of each gamer’s journey with games. This would make the gaming experience much more sophisticated and seamless.

Esports will help to monetize it: Over the next five years, the esports segment is expected to grow rapidly due to increased interest from brands for sponsorship, publishers to promote games and entry of new players across the value chain ranging from organizers to participating teams. As per the report, the India esports sub-segment is expected to grow by CAGR 27% over FY21-25 to reach a size of INR 5.7bn.

How can brand marketers make the most of the gaming craze?

Even as free-to-play games (with IAPs) remain the dominant consumption basket in India, developers and publishers are desperately trying to think of out-of-the-box monetization solutions to reduce the dependence on advertising for monetization. This situation, unique to India, is likely to remain and define the market growth in the short-to-medium term, as per market experts. As gaming grows, brands have started to look at online casual gaming as a potential media vehicle to reach their target audiences. 

Here are some key trends that could be valuable to the marketing suite:

Optimizing user engagement: With user engagement seeing strong growth, online casual gaming is becoming a mainstream source of entertainment and garnering a sizeable share of the time spent on entertainment in a day. With deepening penetration around demographics, marketers are likely to see casual gaming as a viable medium to reach intended audiences, resulting in sizeable ad revenue growth. Various ad engines and mediation networks are also focusing on the gaming inventory as an important means to place digital advertisements.

Crafting strategies around rewarded ads: Rewarded ads are likely to be the dominant category in terms of ad formats in the years to come. Given the penchant of Indians around free-to-play games, rewarded ads help the gamers make progress when it comes to the gameplay by incentivizing them, and at the same time helps publishers monetize the engagement. Rewarded ads is one category which, as per various surveys by ad networks, gamers do not mind consuming as long as it helps them enjoy the game. With an incentive at the end of the ad, rewarded ads ensure constant attention from the gamer on the messaging – a win-win situation.

Making video-based advertisements work harder: Video-based advertisements, especially around the rewarded side, are likely to see tremendous growth when it comes to fill rates and CPMs. The strong call to action around video ads, and their ability to engage the audience, will be important drivers leading to their strong growth.



from News https://ift.tt/3AfCnd2
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keala Kanae – Net Worth, Courses, Scam?

Keala Kanae net worth : Keala Kanae is an internet marketer with a net worth of approximately $3 million dollars. Digital marketing seems like a perfect way to make money from home at this time when the world hits a global pandemic. There are tons of internet gurus to teach you how to make a 6-figure income monthly. Take it from Keala Kanae of Fullstaq Marketer – the same guy behind AWOL Academy. At the same time, you’ve heard some reviews from past customers before and would like to know whether diving with Kanae is a good idea. Is it worth the time, effort, and investment with him? Will your expertise and income expand given the tricks mentioned in their books? Keala Kanae Net Worth According to Forbes and Huffpost , Kanae earned his first $1 million in AWOL’s first year. In 2017, his net worth grew to a massive $30 million. Keala Kanae’s net worth is somewhere between $30 million to $50 million. Who is Keala Kanae? Probably you’ve come across his ads on Facebook and YouT
25 comments
Read more

Will Durex’s rebranded packaging help solve its biggest challenge?

Durex, the leading condom brand from Reckitt, recently announced its rebranded packaging for the Singapore market. The Drum spoke to Durex Singapore marketing director Justin Lee about how this refresh will reinvigorate its marketing. The new packaging includes new labels, colours and designs of the range as well as new navigation icons to help shoppers make a better choice. As a part of the month-long campaign, the condom brand will also be making its fit guide available on Shopee’s Durex official store. Having started in the UK , the rebranding is being rolled out gradually to countries worldwide and is now available in Singapore, informs Justin Lee, marketing director of Reckitt Singapore in an exclusive chat with The Drum. He elaborates on how with the new packaging, the brand hopes to find a solution to its biggest challenge: “of debunking reasons for not wearing a condom and normalizing this habit amongst the consumers.” The rebranding is part of Durex ’s year-long initiative
Post a Comment
Read more

What is a Local Citation? Local SEO

In simple SEO terms, a local citation refers to any mention of your company online. This could be in a business directory, or on an industry-specific site, a blog or any other local website. Although local citations can help you rank in local search results, they are no longer a major ranking factor . However, they are still worth considering in order to promote your business. Common citations you are likely to already know of include listings on business directory websites such as Yell or Thomson Local . A complete citation should include the name, address and phone number of your business. Local citations do not always include a link to your site although they are more valuable if they do. What do they do? Citations help rank your Google Local Pack listing (this was formerly called Google+ Local map) by providing Google with credible sources of information about your business. Citations tell Google that your business exists, is legitimate and that what you say about it is accur
8 comments
Read more