Game Developing in India – A look into a Diverse Market
National, March 2021: India’s gaming market is growing at a rapid pace and is expected to reach a value of more than $1 billion by 2021. This growth has been driven by better access to smartphones and the internet plus a young population with a growing amount of disposable income. Indians are now playing more games and spending more on gaming, helping the game development industry of India grow.
Over the past ten years, game development in India has seen a serious boom, with more than 200 new game development companies being established during this time. On top of the number of new companies starting in India, some of the biggest game studios in the world, such as the likes of Ubisoft and EA, besides several huge online casino games developers, have set up offices in the country.
A Growing Talent Pool
More game developers are beginning to expand into the Indian market, where a growing number of talented developers are available. Over the past few years, India has experienced a tech boom as young software engineers establish new startups and development companies. This has also led to a growing number of professional experienced in all areas of development, including QA, asset creation and overall game design.
As more people in India become interested in gaming and the number of companies producing games for the Indian market grows, companies will continue to thrive in India, creating new job opportunities for young graduates. Many AAA gaming titles released over the past few years have had Indian teams working on them, with Ubisoft, Rockstar and EA all involved in Indian game development.
The India Game Developer Conference
The India Game Developer Conference is India’s leading game development industry conference. It’s held each year in Hyderabad, giving people in the gaming industry all over India the chance to meet up and hear from a varied list of guest speakers. These industry conferences present an excellent opportunity for the games industry to continue to grow in India, allowing developers and recent graduates to network and learn more about new trends in game development.
The 2020 India Game Developer Conference featured over 100 guest speakers, 30 publishers, a large number of potential investors and over 2000 attendees. Those who attended had a chance to gain valuable insights into Indian game development as well as connect with publishers and investors to help their latest project get off the ground. These events are a crucial part of any successful industry, and the success of the conference is a good sign that India’s gaming industry will continue to grow and develop over the next few years.
Why Now is the Best Time to Get Involved in the Indian Gaming Industry
India is now one to around one-tenth of the total population of gamers, with over 585 million smartphone users. The gaming market in India is still growing at a rapid pace, and more international game developers are starting to take notice. The past few years have seen an increase in Indian game development companies, and greater access to game development tools such as Unity, Unreal Engine and Cocos have helped.
With the use of high-end smartphones rising and a larger proportion of Indian gamers now enjoying freemium games with in-app purchases, game publishers can make a lot of revenue by targeting the Indian market. Right now, there’s no dominant Indian game publisher, and government regulations don’t force companies to partner with local companies to produce games in India. These conditions make it a perfect scenario for many Western-developers, who are keen to establish themselves in this growing market and start publishing localised content for Indian gamers.
