Ernst & Young: Gaming Market in India in 2024
The lion's share of the gaming market revenue (83%) is forecasted to be from real-money gaming.
The consulting company has prepared a report on all sectors of entertainment in India. I'm publishing only the part related to games.
State of the Market
In 2023, the volume of the Indian market amounted to 220 billion INR ($2.64 billion). Out of this amount, 182 billion INR ($2.18 billion) is revenue from real money games (poker, rummy, fantasy sports, etc.). The remaining 38 billion INR ($0.46 billion) is income from "casual" games, eSports, and other classic gaming experiences.
❗️EY refers to casual games as projects that do not involve real money cash-out options.
The gaming market in India is the fourth largest by volume after television, digital media, and surprisingly, print media. And it's the fastest-growing.
The Indian gaming market grew by 22% in 2023. Real-money games grew by 21%, while casual games grew by 24%.
Around 90 million players in India paid for games in 2023.
Shooters are the favorite genre in India, excluding various variations of table and card games for money, which generate 24% of total revenue.
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The number of gamers in India reached 455 million in 2023, second only to China. EY estimates that 100 to 110 million people play in India daily.
India is the world's largest market in terms of downloads. 25% of the total volume is attributed to hyper-casual projects.
Indian Market Growth
It is expected that the Indian gaming market will grow to 388 billion INR ($4.7 billion) by 2026. The market will grow by 21% annually.
In-game purchases (27% CAGR), fantasy sports (23% CAGR), and rummy with poker (19% CAGR) will grow the most.
By 2026, the share of real money games in India will be 83%.
RMG Games - Current Status
RMG - Real Money Gaming.
Out of the 182 billion INR ($2.18 billion) revenue in 2023 from the RMG segment, 37% was from rummy and poker, 53% from fantasy sports, and the rest from commissions in other projects.
In October 2023, regulation of real money games was introduced in India (a 28% tax on deposits was introduced). This led to layoffs and risks for smaller companies. However, the situation now looks like major players have found a way to optimize to continue business.
There is a risk that the 28% tax will be applied retrospectively. Industry players have already said that this will kill their business.
Google announced the allowance of the publication of skill-based projects on its platform in India, making it easier to access the audience.
EY expects the market to consolidate by 2026.
Real-money games are not allowed in all states of India. There are states where you can play poker but not fantasy games.
Classic Games Market
Out of 38 billion INR ($460 million), 37% is spent on in-game purchases, 34% on advertising, and 29% on eSports.
Spending on IAP purchases grew by 55% in 2023 due to the release of Battlegrounds Mobile India in May 2023 after a two-year ban. The game has been downloaded more than 100 million times since then.
As previously written, shooters account for 24% of all IAP revenue with 5% of downloads. The next genre by revenue is strategy (14% of total IAP payments with 1% of downloads). In third place are Match games (12% of all IAP payments with 6% of downloads).
The number of streamer views increased by 20-25% in 2023, especially in Tier-II cities.
Esports in India
In 2023, 1.79 million people participated in esports competitions. It is expected that in 2024, their number will exceed 2.5 million.
78% of surveyed EY players participated in esports competitions, and all watched at least one tournament in the last month.
In 2023, there were 22 esports teams in India. In 2024, this number will increase to 35.
In 2024, there were 19 esports disciplines on the market. A decrease to 14 is expected in 2024.
The return of Free Fire competitions is expected to increase prizes. Growth in views is also expected.
In 2023, women made up 23% of the entire esports audience in India. And there is a trend towards growth.
Portrait of an Indian Gamer
Almost 13,000 gamers were surveyed; 94% were under 34 years, 90% were men, and 88% were single.
40% of Indian gamers played almost every day in 2023.
43% of respondents said they played more in the last year.
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48% of Indian gamers play for more than an hour per session. A third of respondents don't have dedicated gaming time.
44% play for fun and stress relief.
When choosing a game, users value its popularity (32%) and store rating (23%).
60% of Indian gamers prefer multiplayer games.
30% of Indian gamers watch streams on a daily basis. 45% spend more than 2 hours a day on this.
58% of respondents consider it normal to spend money on RMG games. This is 19% more than the previous year.
54% of paying players spend less than 500 INR ($6) per month.
Almost two-thirds of respondents either are ready to or already have a gaming subscription.
52% paid to play fantasy sports in 2023.
Users avoid RMG games due to fraud risks (33%), gaming addiction concerns (25%), and mistrust of platforms (24%).