Online Gaming in India: Reaching a New Pinnacle

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
The Indian online gaming market was estimated at USD 290 million in 2016 and is projected to reach USD one billion by 2021, with about 310 million online gamers.See it on page 10
02
An average Indian online gamer is introduced to gaming through friends, family and peers, and most commonly plays for stress relief and social interaction.See it on page 19
03
Puzzle, action and adventure are the most preferred genres across demographics and engagement levels.See it on page 22
04
About 85 per cent of primary-device respondents in the 2016 survey reported mobile phones as their primary gaming device.See it on page 25
05
Freemium games generated 19.65 million USD in revenue and 392.5 million downloads from the top 100 titles in the period studied, versus 0.87 million USD in revenue and 231K downloads for top 100 paid games.See it on page 29
06
Around 30 per cent of non-paying online gamers cite availability of free substitutes as a reason for not paying, the largest-cited reason in the survey.See it on page 28

Summary

KPMG in India, with Google and Nielsen data, examines India's online gaming market, covering gamer profiles, consumption and payment behaviour, monetisation models and the outlook to 2021. The market was estimated at USD 290 million in 2016 with 120 million online gamers, and is projected to reach USD one billion and about 310 million online gamers by 2021, a CAGR of about 28 per cent. The research draws on Nielsen smartphone panel data (N=8136 urban connected online gamers), Nielsen primary surveys (N=1807 urban online gamers), and a 3000-respondent online survey across India's regions.

The report finds that the average Indian online gamer is a below-24-year-old male, typically introduced to gaming through friends, family and peers, and motivated by stress relief and social interaction. Puzzle, action and adventure are the most preferred genres. Mobile phones are the main device, with about 85 per cent of gamers primarily using them, while experienced gamers shift toward PCs and laptops.

Monetisation remains limited. The report states that about 30 per cent of non-paying gamers cite the availability of free substitutes as a reason for not paying, and that freemium games generated 22 times the revenue of paid games among the top 100 titles in the period studied. Most payments are made by debit card. The authors expect the market to move toward freemium and in-app purchase models over the next five years.