Right through the roughly three-month period of the Coronavirus-induced lockdown in India, one of the few industries that has thrived is online gaming. It’s a narrative similar to other parts of the world caught in similar circumstances — young people stuck at home with or without work, boredom finding an outlet in gaming (the difference between gaming and eSports being that the former is entertainment while the latter is multi-player and competitive).

Across platforms and countries there has been a consistent spike. The overall spending in video games went up 73 percent (compared to last year) to $1.5 billion, with brands such as Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch all going up more than 160 percent from April 2019. Popular mobile game PUBG developer Tencent Holdings Ltd’s revenue rose 26 percent to about $15.2 billion after sales went up 31 percent during the March quarter. Video game streaming platform Twitch had 1.49 billion gaming hours watched in April, up by 50 percent since March. By late May, it had 50 percent month-over-month growth in hours watched.

According to Per Newzoo’s research report, video game sales of $148.8 billion worldwide in 2019 was expected to reach $159.3 billion this year — thanks to the virus-induced lockdown.

Game On India

In India, online gaming startup Pocket52 raised $1.75 million as part of its Series A funding from game publisher Gameskraft earlier this month. PayTM plans to invest Rs 5 crore in Rooter Sports Technologies that allows gaming fans to live stream and share.

Live streaming at Indian Gaming League (IGL) increased by 1000 percent in the last three months, by 300 percent in May, founder and director Yash Pariani said. NODWIN Gaming, which started registration for the fifth edition of ESL India Premiership 2020 on May 21, had 300 percent more registrations in half the time compared to last year.

These are a few examples to highlight numbers that are impressive and by most accounts, people are downloading games and spending more time on them. Some may argue that this would not necessarily translate into more revenue, but there is no doubt about more time engagement.

Time And Tech Favour Games

While India was already considered a potentially explosive market because of the growth in smartphone usage, data penetration and a large young population, the reasons for the recent spurt are fairly obvious — people have more time and much less to do now. The amount of time spent commuting to work in big cities has now been freed up and, therefore, replaced with leisure (or unemployment), which in some cases equates to gaming.

Besides, technology has improved in recent years, with augmented and virtual reality, 4G/5G and the possibility of streaming games through the cloud without any hardware. ESPORTS entertainment has managed to accelerate the change that was anyway brewing pre-COVID-19, says NODWIN co-founder and managing director Akshat Rathee, but COVID-19 has put this change on steroids.

The Games Will Go On

The virus, besides affecting people adversely globally, has also brought them together on platforms such as PUBG or Fortnight. These players are connecting on game language, turning it into a new form of communicating, said co-founder and CEO of digital services and solutions company Outblaze, Yat Siu. He predicts a gaming language, like what’s used on WhatsApp, which has, for example, taken away users’ ability to type in full sentences. Aspects of culture will play a role in gaming, like more sales of pizza because that’s easy to eat while playing, he said in a Global Innovation Leadership Series ‘webinar’ on gaming industry in May.

However, once everyday life crawls back to normalcy — as has already begun in some parts of India — what would happen to these growing numbers? Would regular work and travel take over couch time? Rathee hopes to retain 40-50 percent of their newly-gained watch time even as consumption reduces. The IGL had a surge in revenue during lockdown of up to 400 percent, which Pariani hopes will continue. Sudhir Kamath, the CEO and co-founder of online poker platform 9Stacks, said in the 'webinar' that they had a 100 percent increase in new users and 40-50 percent growth in time spent from existing users. He is convinced that when the lockdown ends, many will continue to play.

India was anyway in line for emerging as a strong market for gaming, considered among the top four countries in the world in eSports participation. The online gaming industry in India, according to a May 2017 study by KPMG in India and Google, is a $1 billion possibility.

Even if gaming experts are being optimistic about users, revenues and growth, India was anyway in line for emerging as a strong market for gaming, considered among the top four countries in the world in eSports participation. The online gaming industry in India, according to a May 2017 study by KPMG in India and Google, is a $1 billion possibility.

The gaming industry is quick to adapt too. What the virus has done is catalysed the movement.

Right through the roughly three-month period of the Coronavirus-induced lockdown in India, one of the few industries that has thrived is online gaming. It’s a narrative similar to other parts of the world caught in similar circumstances — young people stuck at home with or without work, boredom finding an outlet in gaming (the difference between gaming and eSports being that the former is entertainment while the latter is multi-player and competitive).

Across platforms and countries there has been a consistent spike. The overall spending in video games went up 73 percent (compared to last year) to $1.5 billion, with brands such as Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch all going up more than 160 percent from April 2019. Popular mobile game PUBG developer Tencent Holdings Ltd’s revenue rose 26 percent to about $15.2 billion after sales went up 31 percent during the March quarter. Video game streaming platform Twitch had 1.49 billion gaming hours watched in April, up by 50 percent since March. By late May, it had 50 percent month-over-month growth in hours watched.

According to Per Newzoo’s research report, video game sales of $148.8 billion worldwide in 2019 was expected to reach $159.3 billion this year — thanks to the virus-induced lockdown.

Game On India

In India, online gaming startup Pocket52 raised $1.75 million as part of its Series A funding from game publisher Gameskraft earlier this month. PayTM plans to invest Rs 5 crore in Rooter Sports Technologies that allows gaming fans to live stream and share.

Live streaming at Indian Gaming League (IGL) increased by 1000 percent in the last three months, by 300 percent in May, founder and director Yash Pariani said. NODWIN Gaming, which started registration for the fifth edition of ESL India Premiership 2020 on May 21, had 300 percent more registrations in half the time compared to last year.

These are a few examples to highlight numbers that are impressive and by most accounts, people are downloading games and spending more time on them. Some may argue that this would not necessarily translate into more revenue, but there is no doubt about more time engagement.

Time And Tech Favour Games

While India was already considered a potentially explosive market because of the growth in smartphone usage, data penetration and a large young population, the reasons for the recent spurt are fairly obvious — people have more time and much less to do now. The amount of time spent commuting to work in big cities has now been freed up and, therefore, replaced with leisure (or unemployment), which in some cases equates to gaming.

Besides, technology has improved in recent years, with augmented and virtual reality, 4G/5G and the possibility of streaming games through the cloud without any hardware. ESPORTS entertainment has managed to accelerate the change that was anyway brewing pre-COVID-19, says NODWIN co-founder and managing director Akshat Rathee, but COVID-19 has put this change on steroids.

The Games Will Go On

The virus, besides affecting people adversely globally, has also brought them together on platforms such as PUBG or Fortnight. These players are connecting on game language, turning it into a new form of communicating, said co-founder and CEO of digital services and solutions company Outblaze, Yat Siu. He predicts a gaming language, like what’s used on WhatsApp, which has, for example, taken away users’ ability to type in full sentences. Aspects of culture will play a role in gaming, like more sales of pizza because that’s easy to eat while playing, he said in a Global Innovation Leadership Series ‘webinar’ on gaming industry in May.

However, once everyday life crawls back to normalcy — as has already begun in some parts of India — what would happen to these growing numbers? Would regular work and travel take over couch time? Rathee hopes to retain 40-50 percent of their newly-gained watch time even as consumption reduces. The IGL had a surge in revenue during lockdown of up to 400 percent, which Pariani hopes will continue. Sudhir Kamath, the CEO and co-founder of online poker platform 9Stacks, said in the 'webinar' that they had a 100 percent increase in new users and 40-50 percent growth in time spent from existing users. He is convinced that when the lockdown ends, many will continue to play.

Even if gaming experts are being optimistic about users, revenues and growth, India was anyway in line for emerging as a strong market for gaming, considered among the top four countries in the world in eSports participation. The online gaming industry in India, according to a May 2017 study by KPMG in India and Google, is a $1 billion possibility.

The gaming industry is quick to adapt too. What the virus has done is catalysed the movement.

Views are personal.