How India is Growing as a Mobile Game Industry

The Indian app industry is in the limelight, and it is incrementing at an incredible speed. It has started to grab the attention of global app development companies with the sudden surge in key performance indicators. Earlier, the e-commerce breakthrough in India was the major driving force of the app industry; now mobile games have become the primary revenue source for the industry.

The major factor underlying the growth of the mobile game development industry is the surge in the availability of affordable mobile devices in India. It is estimated that the total game revenue in India would reach $1.1 Billion by 2020. The AppAnnie-Nasscom report on ‘Mobile Gaming in India’ points out that the game downloads in iOS and Android devices have increased twice from Q2 2014 and Q2 2016. The current trends suggest that India will soon bypass Russia and Brazil to become the third largest gaming market in the world.

Major Mobile Game Genres in India

The popular games that are loved by the Indian mobile gamers are ‘Candy Crush Saga’, ‘Clash of Clans’, ‘Chhota Bheem Jungle Run’ and ‘Subway Surfers’. The major mobile game genres that stand out in terms of download, revenue and ranking are mentioned below:

Strategy Games

Strategy games are continuing to be the major revenue-driving game genre in India. Global games like ‘Clash of Clans’, ‘Clash Royale’, ‘Clash of Kings’ continue to be the top grossing games. The mobile gaming behaviour in India shows that people have increased their time in playing strategy games by 170% in Q2 2016 as compared to Q2 2015. Even though the strategy games do not stand out in terms of game downloads, it has surpassed its expectations in terms of revenue and average time spent on the games.

Social Card Games

Social card games are the second top most grossing game genre in the Indian mobile gaming industry. Given the fact that India loves the traditional card games like ‘Rummy’ and ‘Teen Patti’, the figures are not surprising. The total revenue from social card games has increased by 190% in Q2 2016 as compared to Q2 2015. The average time spent in playing social card games has risen by 120% in this period. Many Indian gamers prefer to play rummy game online as it is more convenient than the traditional game set-up. These card games hold traditional and cultural significance, which make them unique and help them compete with the global games.

Casual Games

Casual games like ‘Candy Crush Saga’, ‘Candy Crush Soda’ and ‘Hay Day’ are the top grossing games in this category. The Indian games like ‘Chhota Bheem Jungle Run’ and ‘Star Chef: Cooking Game’ are also on the list. Revenue from Casual games has reportedly increased by 110% in Q2 2016 as compared to the same quarter of the previous year. There has been a slight dip in the average time spent by the users in playing Casual games in the past two years. However, this has not affected the growth in its revenue.

Action Games

Action games also hold the interest of the Indian mobile gamers. Games like ‘Sniper 3D Assassin Gun Shooter’, ‘Temple Run 2’, ‘Doodle Army 2: Mini Militia’ are some of the top action games in India. The revenue of action games has increased by 130% in Q2 2016 as compared to Q2 2015. People started spending more time in playing action games. There has been a massive growth of 290% in the same timeframe.

The future of Indian mobile gaming industry looks promising. By developing the right games for the Indian gamers, the local and global game development companies can expect significant returns from the industry.