The gaming industry in India is experiencing growth, driven by advancements in digital technology. At Meta’s inaugural Gaming Summit in India, the company revealed data from a study conducted by online insights platform GWI, commissioned by Meta. The study sheds light on consumer trends influencing gamers in India. The summit, attended by leading gaming brands, showed the role of Meta platforms, such as Reels, video ads, and influencers, in facilitating game discovery and purchases among Indian gamers.
Arun Srinivas, Director and Head of Ads Business for Meta in India, mentioned that gaming is a vertical for Meta globally. He highlighted the impact of Meta’s Advantage+ suite of automated ads in driving growth for gaming brands, highlighting the company’s commitment to empowering gaming businesses across different stages of their journey.
Business Standard reported that the study presented key insights into India’s gaming landscape. It revealed that gaming is becoming increasingly prevalent across the country with around half of casual gamers and 43 per cent of real-money gamers coming from non-metro cities. Major sporting events and festive seasons influence the types of games played, with a notable shift towards fantasy sports games during events like the IPL and World Cup cricket.
The study also identified artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) as the top three gaming technologies that most interest casual gamers in India. These findings offer important insights for gaming brands to design their marketing strategies to connect with Indian gamers effectively.
Sandhya Devanathan, India Managing Director at Meta, highlighted gaming as an opportunity for the company in India. She projected that gaming would contribute significantly to India’s $ 1 trillion digital economy and an estimated 641 million gamers.
She said, “The gaming ecosystem along with its brands will be almost worth $7.5 billion. Around 250,000 jobs (in India) are being created in gaming by just 2025. These are stats. If we continue to see the kind of growth in the economy — branching out to gaming – we can even look at gaming being export-oriented for us”, quoted Money Control.
Devanathan emphasized Meta’s commitment to enabling people, creators, and businesses on its platform, with a focus on improving business messaging through WhatsApp Business. Additionally, the success of Reels in India has positioned Meta to set up its first data centre in the country to meet the growing demand for its services.