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ESports

Sports Games are primed to grow in India: Report

Investments from companies like Alibaba, Nazara and Youzu has helped revolutionise e-gaming in India.

Sports Games are primed to grow in India: Report
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By

Umaima Saeed

Published: 26 Feb 2020 12:45 PM GMT

Ever since India witnessed a smartphone revolution, online gaming in the country has been on an all-time high. Investments from companies like Alibaba, Nazara and Youzu has helped revolutionise e-gaming in India.

Paul Jackson, senior manager at Akamai EMEA’s media industry strategy team, explains how mobile phones have made e-gaming very easily accessible to youngsters, who do not need to go and buy a gaming console. In an exclusive interview to exchange4media, Jackson says, “There are more and younger consumers who are typically drawn towards gaming. Earlier an individual had to buy a gaming PC or a gaming console. Now, with a decent smartphone, you can play good online games. The availability and accessibility to these devices have taken the gaming industry by storm.

Jackson also explains the cost-friendliness of online gaming. He points out how most e-games have a free trial period in which you can play for free of cost. And overall too, buying an e-game online costs much lesser than buying one offline, and this has been the main reason for the growth of online gaming.

The availability and accessibility to these devices have taken the gaming industry by storm and also making the gaming industry change their business model -- from making a player buy an expensive game for $60 to ‘here's a free game, once you start playing, there may be some things you want to customize is an option for you to pay $1 or $2 to do those things’. So again, the barrier to entry has come so down.”

Some of the most popular e-games in India are PUGB, Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, Fortnite, FIFA and many more. Speaking particularly about PUBG, the multiplayer battle royale game which has become a huge craze in India, Jackson told exchange4media.

Also Read: The Indian eSports pie, and why everyone wants a piece of it

PUBG falls into that battle royale genre, which is popular everywhere. The games in this category like Fortnite and Apex Legends are PC or console games. PUBG has been the first game that's really pushed for the mobile and as we were saying earlier on, that's where the businesses are in India. We have got a huge audience of game players with capable phones and this is the first chance they've had to play a battle royale type game. So that's why it's had such a draw.” he said.

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