It seems that the Indian gaming market is in for something big, it is expected to reach $9.2 billion by FY2029. With sustained growth in in-app purchases and ad revenue, the gaming market is growing at 20 per cent CAGR in five years.
The in-app purchase revenue continues to be the fastest growing segment with 41 per cent year-on-year growth. With a packed live sports season comprising two world cups and an IPL, the sector added $400 million to its top line. Gaming constitutes 30 per cent of the broader new media market, and is its fastest growing segment.
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Interestingly India’s new media market touched $12.5 billion in FY24 growing at a CAGR of 16 per cent. These findings are part of an annual market intelligence report findings by Lumikai, an interactive media and gaming VC fund this report was developed in collaboration with Google and Deloitte.
The report states that the Indian gaming market continues to benefit from sustained engagement metrics The Indian gaming market added 23 million new gamers to cross 590 million gamers in FY24. India is the world’s second largest market by mobile gaming downloads, 3.5 times larger than the US and Brazil.
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The average weekly time spent on games increased by 30 per cent, from 10 hours to 13 hours. The report also adds that the revenue from mid-core games exceeded expectations clocking an astounding 53 per cent year-on-year growth.
The casual and hyper-casual games saw 10 per cent annual growth in IAP (in-app purchase) revenue, while ad revenue remained stable despite global pullbacks on ad-spends.
The IAP revenue is also driving monetisation growth in India’s gaming market and annual ARPPU increased to $22 in FY24, a 15 per cent increase from FY23. With 25 per cent of users making in-game payments, the number of paying gamers increased to 148 million.
As per the study 44 per cent of gamers are women, up from 41 per cent last year, playing casual mobile games. Another interesting finding was that 66 percent of gamers come from non-metro cities and 43 per cent of gamers are first-time earners in the age-group of 18-30, exhibiting high propensity to pay for gaming and interactive entertainment.
There has also been a 20 per cent increase in time spent on casual games in FY’24 and 25 per cent of gamers said they have spent money in games this year, consistent with FY23. Around 83 per cent of gamers had used the UPI and digital wallets to make in-game payments and the top payment motivators of paying gamers include unlocking new content and upgrading in-game items.
The report also highlights that causal games are universally enjoyed, with mid-core games being a close second preference across India. The report also found that the time spent on gaming in India is two times more that compared to time spent on social media platforms.