Indian gaming Industry set to reach $7.5 billion by FY28: Lumikai report

Hyderabad: India’s pioneering gaming & interactive media fund, Lumikai, has on Thursday released the 3rd edition of its annual State of India Gaming report, in collaboration with Google. The report is the most comprehensive undertaken in India’s gaming market and was launched by Salone Sehgal and Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partners, Lumikai at the 15th India Game Developers Conference (IGDC) in Hyderabad.

According to the report the Indian gaming market is expected to hit the $7.5 Bn valuation mark by FY28. The report cited several interesting insights that show the significant growth in the last few years.

The data decoded in the report showed the shift from being one of the emerging markets to now being a key market in the world driven by faster download speeds, rapid smartphone penetration and affordable data. Increasing affinity towards byte-sized entertainment and participation in interactive communities have also been key drivers in the growth of gaming across the country.

The report anticipates a robust growth rate of 20 per cent CAGR, driven by increasing in-app purchases and advertising revenues in casual and mid-core games. The data also sheds light on India’s global position as one of the leading countries globally for total mobile game downloads. Over 50 per cent of all Indian internet users account for the gaming population in the country. This number grew by 12 per cent in FY23, according to the report. The data also highlighted how the average time spent on gaming increased by 20 per cent, to 10-12 hours per gamer per week.

The projected growth trajectory counters the narrative of a decline in in-app purchases following the suspension of top Battle Royale games, BGMI and Free Fire. Notably in-app revenue outside of BGMI and Free Fire witnessed a 37% year-on-year surge. This was seen on account of steadily increasing monetisation across casual and mid-core games indicating a growing trend of exploring new IPs by Indian gamers, along with increased propensity to pay. At the same time, RMG revenue grew by $500 Mn in FY23 but is expected to face headwinds in the coming years due to recent taxation policies and industry consolidation.

“We are thrilled to unveil the 3rd edition of the State of India Gaming report in partnership with Google. The strong growth & insights showcased in our report are a testament to the continued appetite for gaming in India. Indian gaming has been on the rise because of rapid digitisation, growth in new gamers and new paid gamers, and increasing diversity of gaming content consumed. Even though funding has slowed down this year, the outlook towards the gaming industry is extremely positive. We're particularly excited to see the increasing engagement of gamers from non-metro cities, which demonstrates the massive growth potential and the opportunity in the Indian gaming industry. We are committed as a team to be at the forefront of powering India's gaming economy and we will continue to enable the best interactive media & gaming founders across India." -Salone Sehgal, Founding General Partner

Some of the interesting consumer insights that the report revealed included that 59 per cent or gamers are male and 41 per cent female, with 66 per cent coming from non-metros. Most users play games to unwind or socialise with friends. Of the surveyed users, 41 per cent mentioned that they’ve graduated from playing casual games to all kinds of games, while 28 per cent showed a proclivity to experiment with new genres. Over 58% of users said they partake in in-app purchases, with 62% of users claiming that UPI is their preferred mode of payment for games.

Lumikai is India’s first dedicated games and interactive media VC. It is the pioneering VC fund catalysing India's gaming and interactive media revolution. The fund invests in companies at the cross-section of technology, culture and new media. The leadership team combines decades of strategic experience and sector knowledge while leveraging all-star local and global networks to help propel founders to success.

Lumikai has already backed some of India’s leading games companies including Bombay Play (building social casual games from India for the world), Loco (India’s leading game streaming platform), Elo Elo (creator-led, social gaming, live streaming platform), Studio Sirah (mid-core strategy gaming studio), Supernova (Gen AI led AI tutor disrupting edtech) ) amongst others.