Gaming industry says it is game

The gaming industry in India is burgeoning at a stupendous rate and catching the eye of several international players besides sprouting umpteen domestic players. Better mobile handsets will drive 3D gaming in a big way. Better PC penetration, broadband reach along with more players and casual games will boost online gaming.

The gaming industry is believed to have reached the size of $50 million by end of 2005 and this is excluding mobile gaming. Advertisers are turning their eyes to this medium too, to reap the rewards of having a sticky audience. For example, in a game of racing the product association could be a small banner of Castrol on the race tracks or a big logo of Suzuki on the bike. Both brands appeal to the teenagers and they can reach out to their audience effectively through the medium of advertising through games. With traditional media not serving causes for specific products and suffering from unstable media consumption, games as an advertising medium is growing. Venkat Mallik, Managing Director, Level-Up Network India Pvt Ltd, believes that advertising revenue through gaming is the icing on the cake.

Taking gaming to the next level

Online gaming is a big rage and those who are hooked really eat, breathe and sleep games. Recently, Level Up, a publisher of multiplayer online games announced an expansion of highly anticipated episode in Ragnarok - JUNO.

In mobile gaming, all kinds of content initiatives have been taken - with games on movies, popular characters and even small screen popular stars like ‘Jassi’. The caution note however according to Vishal Gondal, CEO, Indiagames reads - Develop content based on box office collections. If a film does well, then the probability of the game delivering is high says Gondal. It’s much like a Hit or Miss situation.

Gondal hails FICCI Frames as the ‘Mecca of entertainment industry’. He says, “Just like NASSCOM is a great association for software industry, FICCI Frames is a great platform for the entertainment industry.” Mallik of Level Up looks forward to meeting new people and learning about new trends in the gaming industry. He adds, “Gaming is a part of the entertainment industry and I look forward to the high quality presentations and interactions with interesting people of the domain.”

The Next big thing - Casual games; 3D games

Mallik of Ragnarok believes that there are two to three important trends that will shape online gaming positively in the days to come. He elaborates, “New players will enter the domain. That will help grow online gaming. Along with that, better PC penetration and wider reach of broadband are expected to boost the industry.” The Level Up Managing Director is also laying his bet on the fact that more casual games are likely to drive online gaming further.

In the mobile gaming space, Gondal is upbeat about the improved quality handsets that are being made. He foresees that with such quality handsets, 3 D gaming and multiplayer games with the introduction of 3 G technology are the things to watch out for in mobile gaming.