Growth of India's Mobile Gambling Market is Projected to Reach a Revenue of $2.90 billion this year

India's gaming industry is experiencing explosive growth, fueled by a massive mobile gaming market and a rapidly growing gamer base. This article discusses the Indian Gaming Report 2024, revealing a projected revenue surge to $2.90 billion by the end of 2024, alongside insights into demographics, trends, and job opportunities in this exciting sector.

A joint analysis by the Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council and online gaming firm Winzo estimates that the overall income of the Indian gaming sector will reach $2.90 billion this year, up from $3.1 billion in 2023. 

Fast-Growing Market

India is the fastest-growing market in terms of mobile gaming. Based on an examination by the Interactive Entertainment and Innovation Council (IEIC) and secondary data, the India Gaming Report 2024 projected that the number of paying gamers will rise from 144 million in 2023 to 240 million in 2028. Apart from the surge in mobile gamers, mobile casinos are also recording a growing number of players. 

More than 1,400 gaming platforms, 500 of which are studios, make up India's gaming sector. The study predicts that gaming will generate $6 billion in yearly revenue by the year 2028. As a result of national recognition of e-sports and efforts by individual state governments to foster talent in this space, the number of professional players will increase from 500 in 2023 to 2.5 times that amount in the following five years. 

Mobile Video Games 

Downloads of video games in India increased from 5.65 billion in 2019 to an astounding 9.5 billion in 2023, a just four-year span. The paper stated that because of this rise, India's proportion of global game downloads reached a whopping 16% in 2023, with Brazil and the US following with 4.5 billion (7.6% market share) and 4.4 billion (7.4% market share) downloads, respectively.  

Approximately 15,000 people work as game developers or programmers in India, and the country is believed to have 568 million players as consumers. Among India's native gamers, women now make up about 40%, up from 20% (or 1 in 5 gamers) just three years ago.

"Mobile gaming contributes to 90 per cent of the gaming market in India as compared to around 37 per cent and about 62 per cent in the US and China, respectively," the study said. People in the 18–30 age range make up about half of all gamers. Gaming genres that are known for fast-paced action, such as shooters, are popular among the segment's mid-core and hardcore players. 

Conversely, strategy games were most popular among the approximately 30% of Indian gamers who were between the ages of 31 and 45. The falling cost of data, the tripling or quadrupling of phone memory in the last five years, and the acceleration of smartphone affordability have all been major growth drivers for the gaming business, pushing the number of smartphones to over 820 million. 

The survey predicts that over the next decade, the online gaming business in India will create 2.5 lakh new employment. Currently, this sector is estimated to directly and indirectly employ 1 lakh experienced gaming experts. 

"On average, game development costs in India can be up to 50-60 per cent lower than those in Western countries, making it an exceptionally attractive outsourcing destination," the study said. According to the survey, the Indian gaming sector is experiencing a significant increase in demand for talent. There are currently between 50,000 and 60,000 job openings available for a variety of positions, such as developers, programmers, testers, artists, and customer service.

Predicting the near future of the development of the gaming industry in the IT market especially in India is promising. At the moment the valuers estimate the value of the industry at $ 3 Billion. $ 7 billion and for it to reach $6 billion in the year 2028. These are attributed to the cheap smartphones, more mobile game usage and young players. It also gives reasonable jobs connected to the games for other people besides gamers such as developers, programmers, and artists. Esports is now being considered a sport that tells a lot about the developing interest in talent and scouting in talent makes India a big name in gaming.