India has the 2nd largest gamer base in the world- reveals Niko Partners in their latest report on the Indian gaming market

With a user base of 396.4 million, India has the second largest population of gamers in the world, right behind mainland China. Find out all about the latest trends in the gaming sector of India including revenue generated, platforms used, and more.

“India has quickly become one of the most important markets that we track and is the fastest growing market by both revenue and gamers in the Asia-10 region,” said Lisa Hanson, president of Niko Partners. In one of their latest reports, Niko Partners has revealed that India has now grown to have the second-largest gamer base in the world. India alone accounts for 50.2 % of all gamers in Asia-10. For a country slowly increasing its focus on creating an environment conducive to the development of gaming and eSports, that’s some positive news. Here’s more. 

Gaming Market stats of India and Asia, as revealed by Niko Partners

Niko Partners has published an extensive report on the India Games Market, as a part of the Asia Games Market Report. Their extensive research stretched over the markets of Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. After surveys of more than 1000 gamers from India, they brought some interesting revelations about the Indian gaming environment to the forefront. Here are the highlights.

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Population of Gamers

As already mentioned, India reportedly has the 2nd largest gamer base in the world. China however boasts of the largest gamer base still, despite its government’s crackdown and strict regulations around gaming. But when it comes to Asia-10, India reportedly has the largest market by players, home to 396.4 million gamers. Where there are about 788 million gamers in Asia-10, India accounts for 50.2% of it. The research also included the prediction that the number of gamers will grow to have a strength of more than 630 million by 2026.  

Revenue India Generates

Japan and Korea are currently the largest revenue generators of Asia, with over 77% coming from these two countries alone. But India isn’t far behind either. 34% of gamers from India have reportedly spent money on video games in 2022, making India the fastest-growing market in terms of revenue, with a growth rate of 31.9%. The research recorded a projected player spending of US $704.5 million from India in 2022. This includes India’s PC and mobile game markets but excludes revenue generated from Real Money Gaming. The report added that this number can be expected to grow and reach US $1.4 billion by 2026.

Platform used by Indian gamers

Diving deeper into the trends of the Indian gaming market, the research firm reveals that India continues to be a mobile-first market. About 98.8% of Indian gamers play on mobile, spending an average of 14.1 hours per week. The report adds that low data costs in India have a role to play in this.  

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Factors affecting the growth of Indian & Asian gaming market

The report stated “improvements in infrastructure”, “investment by multinational companies”, and initiatives from various governments, as contributing factors to the growth of the gaming sector in Asia. Esports is making appearances in some of the most esteemed sporting events of the world like the Southeast Asia Games 2022, and the Olympic Esports Week. Naturally, this has affected the consumer demand for games, esports, tournaments, and streaming. Additionally, 5G too has started rolling out in the different markets of Asia, including India. 

Having said that, there are certain other aspects affecting the gaming environment of India that need to be taken note of. India has seen the ban of some major games like PUBG Mobile and FreeFire in the past few years. For a market that claims to majorly have a mobile gaming population, these become important details affecting the growth rates in the sector. As a result, Niko Partners predicted that 2023 will have a lower growth rate than 2022. Additionally, blockchain gaming, cloud gaming, and metaverse too have been underperforming. Coupled with the macroeconomic environment, these facets can negatively impact the future of the gaming sector of India and Asia.