There has been a boom in the Indian gaming market in recent years. In 2021, there were around 390 million gamers in the country. This was an 8% increase from the previous year. Experts anticipate that the high level of growth will continue, and there will be more than 450 million gamers in India by 2023.
The enthusiasm for gaming in the country covers a variety of sectors. Games like Fortnite and Call of Duty are popular as they are worldwide. In India, there is also a big market for games of skill like rummy. In addition, Indian online casinos as listed here have experienced significant growth as around 40% of the population are thought to have played at an online casino at least once. Given this passion for gaming across the spectrum, it’s little wonder that investments in gaming startups have recently increased dramatically.
Investment in gaming began to rise significantly in the 2020-21 financial year
In the financial year 2020-2021; venture capital funds invested $438 million in gaming startups in India. This is more than double the amount invested over the previous financial year, which was $170 million.
In fact, investment levels in 2020-21 exceeded the levels of the previous five years combined. This reflects the increase in demand in the gaming market. As you might expect, investment has been most prevalent in regard to top performers in the industry. For example, in September 2020, Dream 11 raised $225 million, and Mobile Premier League (MPL) raised $95 million.
However, investment is not restricted to the top level of gaming startups; it’s spread throughout the industry. As an example of this, venture firms like Accel, Matrix Partners India have invested millions of dollars in gaming providers such as PlayShifu, Zupee, and Winzo. In addition, Krafton Inc., famous for producing PUBG Mobile and Battlegrounds Mobile India, invested $22 million in India-based Nodwin Gaming in March 2021.
The future of Indian gaming is bright
It’s obvious from the high levels of startup investment that the gaming industry in India is buoyant right now. This situation is set to continue for several reasons. One of the main factors in the positive outlook for the Indian gaming industry is the predicted increase in the number of smartphone users in the country, which is set to reach one billion by 2026. This increase in smartphone use will increase the number of gaming app downloads in India which is already the highest in the world.
India also has a healthy and expanding fantasy sports industry. The user base for fantasy sports in the country is currently around 130 million and will continue to grow.
Finally, the number of new paying users (NPUs) in India has been the fastest growing globally in recent years. In 2020, the NPU was 40%, and in 2022 it was 50%. This indicates an ongoing growth in demand in the gaming market in India, which is likely to lead to a further increase in investment in gaming-related startups in the country.
