Mobile gaming has grown multifold in recent years. The sector in India is expected to triple to a $5Bn+ market opportunity by 2025. Gaming is currently a $1.8Bn sunrise sector in India. Between 2017-20, the Indian gaming market grew at 38% CAGR compared to 10% and 8% in USA and China respectively.
Thanks to cheap data plans, reports estimate that 46% of the Indian population has access to the internet and 22% of the population plays at least one mobile game. But challenges continue, around the impact of latency, lag and jitter.
Problems around latency and lag are expected to be addressed by the upcoming 5G technology. Qualcomm says 5G can be significantly faster than 4G, delivering up to 20 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) peak data rates and 100+ Megabits-per-second (Mbps) average data rates.
Today, gaming requires costly local devices which can be custom computers or game consoles. 5G with faster internet is expected to shift the experience to cloud gaming enabling gamers across the world to enjoy games anywhere on any connected device.
5G is expected to accelerate esports & video gaming growth in India in multiple ways:
- No latency & lag;
- Multiplayer mobile gaming;
- Cloud gaming;
- Growth in user base in tier 2 and tier 3 cities;
- Unlocking AR & VR opportunities;
- Video Game live Streaming;
- High-end game downloads and updates in a jiffy
Cloud Gaming basically describes the utilisation of cloud infrastructure for gaming by using the processing power of cloud servers with pre-installed software. The own PC only fulfils the function of sending user input to the cloud and then playing back the processed information via output media. Gamers will no longer need expensive hardware to be purchased and regularly updated, but replacing it by subscription.
The cloud gaming sector in India is expected to receive a must-needed boost with the onset of 5G implementation. Four companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea (Vi) and an Adani Group entity have put in applications to participate in India’s first auction of 5g airwaves starting July 26, 2022.
India with a large chunk of the youth population is the next big market for the gaming sector. Clubbing 5G with cloud gaming offerings will provide a chance for telecom networks and game developers to create new offerings. Now is the perfect time for telecom operators and game developers to solidify their strategies and develop products for cloud gaming offerings.