The Online Gaming Mirage: So Near, Yet So Far

The online gaming industry has reached at an all-time high; still, there are several areas that need to be ironed out. These bottlenecks are limiting the growth potential of online gaming. In this post, I will be talking about some of the hurdles that are bothering this fledgling industry.
Veterans of gaming are of the opinion that content developed for the Indian market is lagging in quality. They feel that these games are Indian imitations of western games. I particularly agree with this point. I mean, whenever you go through any of the Indian games, you can easily trace its roots to prominent games doing rounds in the cyber space both in terms of concept and development. For others, the main obstacles are infrastructural concerns like PC penetration and lack of Broadband connectivity. Apart from the mainstream obstacles, there are other psychological concerns that are acting as a growth impediment. Some of them are listed below.

Anti-gaming culture
Contrary to the developed markets, electronic gaming is not a part of mainstream culture. The Indian mindset lays utmost importance on cut-throat competition in the field of academics. Parents don't want their their children to play games online. To them, gaming is considered as a futile exercise, as they fear that the addictive nature of games can lead to indelible health consequences.

Lack of Online BUZZ!
Indians have abundant opportunities to access games either offline or on cell phones. There is a lack of 'pull factor' that can motivate people to play online.

Prominent hurdles

Infrastructure: Low penetration of PCs in households, lack of broadband connectivity and inefficient cyber cafés is a paramount concern and a significant roadblock that needs to be overcome.

Lack of quality: A quality creation is a gameplay of accurate design, programming and other creative efforts. One requires mastery over specific skill sets in terms of individual activities such as writing codes, graphic designing, animation; such specialization is rarely available. Lack of quality manpower is posing a great challenge to game development entities.

Lack of advanced training: Game development is not a preferred choice of students. Game development as a serious career option. Furthermore, there are very institutions that can teach "action script".

Low on finance: The nascent market is attracting tremendous amount of VC funding, but only the major developers are getting a bigger slice of the pie. Small scale players are untouched by the benefit of angel investments

Though India has a long way to go in terms of revenue, market and the number of gamers, a lot needs to be done to pave the way for consistent growth in this booming industry.

India is ready to game!

Well, before I get started by listing down the growth possibilities of online gaming in the Indian climate, let me define online gaming for you. The concept of online gaming is different as compared to the static version of console or PC enabled gaming. It is quite obvious that the major demarcating factor between both the versions is that the web based games require the use of PC and internet connectivity. These games can be either played online or downloaded and played later. They can support single player games or multiple player games, as long as the gamers are located within India. (IAMAI report-2007)


But the question is: Why is India suddenly so excited about online gaming? Perhaps the main reason behind this new found interest is the heightened awareness level both at the market and at the individual front. Due to its instant availability and much- needed relief from boredom, web based gaming became a preferred choice for entertainment. To satiate this hunger for amusement, game providers are delivering free games by implementing a three stage revenue model. Major sources that are fueling the growth of the burgeoning industry are advertising, subscriptions and organized cyber cafes.

Advertising: This includes Advergames, In-Game placements & On-Site advertising. The contribution of advertising is estimated to be Rs. 2.24 Crore


Subscriptions: Amounting to Rs.6.6 Crore, it mainly encompasses monthly subscriptions paid for MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) available through Indian publishers and subscription fee paid directly to the international players for MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and for digital distribution of games through broadband service providers


Organised Cyber Café: These include revenue accruing to the dominant players like Reliance & Sify from the online gaming activities at the Cafés and Game Dromes. The contribution of this sector is estimated to be Rs 12.17 Crore

It is estimated that within a span of a few years the industry size will expand at an exponential pace. Online gamers are focusing on various strategies that can enable long term monetization. Right now, we have a free model that is banking upon the advertising revenue to sustain the initial growth but in future there are plans to introduce monthly subscriptions. However, the concept of in-game placements will act as a steroid by giving the online gaming industry the much needed initial boost. To sum it up, India can surely expect rapid growth in the web based gaming industry, provided we choose the perfect strategy. It would surely be the biggest determinant to the growth of industry revenues that can propel us as a leading market just like China & Korea.