Android apps and games made in India seem to have reached new heights after Covid19. According to a KPMG 2020 report titled A Year Off Script, the overall user base for online games in India has increased from 269 million in FY 18 to 365 million in FY20.
The overall market is projected to reach 7 billion dollars in value by 2025 according to a recent report by RedSeer Consulting in association with Lumikai, India’s first gaming, and interactive media venture fund.
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Apps and games made in India saw a 200% increase in monthly active users in 2021 from the 2019 figures, according to Purnima Kochikar, vice president, Play Partnerships at Google. He made these comments on the sidelines of the launch of Appscale Academy, a venture by Google and the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY). According to Google, users spent 150% more time on homegrown apps and games globally in 2021 compared to 2019.
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“India is home to one of the largest bases of internet users and is one of the fastest-growing app user countries in the world. India’s apps and games have been receiving extraordinary interest from users as well as investors,” Kochikar said as first reported on Live Mint.
Data from analytics metrics company App Annie reveals India to be the largest market in the world for game app downloads with 1 in every 20 downloads coming from the Asian country in the first half of 2021. 4.8 billion game downloads came from India in the first six months of 2021. Average time spent per user grew 40% from 3.3 hours per day in 2019 driven by surging mobile adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Ludo King was the most popular game in India in the first half of 2021 by downloads and average monthly active users. PUBG Mobile continued to be at 2nd spot in monthly active users despite a ban by the Indian government suggesting users use VPNs and other modes to access the popular battle royale game. India is among the most mobile-first markets in the world with some of the highest daily time spent in apps.
Krafton, the Korean developer of PUBG Mobile, in July launched an India-only version of the game, called Battlegrounds Mobile India. Krafton launched a new version of the game PUBG: New State worldwide. Indian game publishers accounted for just 7.6% of total game downloads, with the Chinese and USA developers dominating, the report said.
