We have officially entered the golden age of gaming. The past 24 months have given rise to a massive influx of new gaming mediums, gamers, developers, and gaming companies. Trends have turned into multi-million dollar business ventures, which in turn has boosted gaming economies.
Due to the widespread availability of data connections and affordable devices, India’s digital gaming scene has undergone exponential growth in recent years. We’ve seen a boom in iGaming, including surging popularity for casino verticals like online slots, the emergence of Indian eSports and, of course, mobile gaming. In India, the digital gaming industry is expected to be worth $2 billion by 2023 and will be home to as many as 510 million gamers.
But, what lies ahead for the Indian gaming landscape in 2022? Let’s take a look.
Exciting new Gaming Genres
Battle Royale games have become one of the top verticals during the last few years, with the global popularity of the likes of Fortnite and PUBGMobile helping to push it to the forefront. However, we’ve also seen other genres surge in popularity too: gaming innovation has made customisable sandbox games like Minecraft possible and there’s a wealth of story-focused action and adventure games that could give the latest Netflix series a run for its money.
During 2022 we can expect to see games created by diverse voices, particularly from female-led games design teams. Despite their many notable achievements – The director behind the ubiquitous Animal Crossings: New Horizons is a woman, for example – in this male-dominated industry female voices tend to take a backseat. Not anymore! Hold on for engaging and technologically innovative games that place the female perspective at the centre during the next 12 months.
More International Investment
As one of the top five regions in the world for gaming, India has already attracted a lot of attention from international investors and foreign developers. During the first nine months of 2021 alone a total of $1.6 billion was invested into the gaming landscape in India by international companies and this figure is expected to be topped during 2022.
So, what kind of companies will be choosing India as their next base in the coming year? Well, there are plenty of indicators to say that the region will be undergoing further development in the eSports realm, particularly since this is where the majority of recent capital injections have been focused. And with big-name gaming companies like Ubisoft and Rockstar Games setting up shop in the country, other top developers will likely follow suit.
Mobilising GenZ
Vital to the success of gaming brands in India is being able to capture and hold the attention of new demographics, chief among them being GenZ.
Born at the turn of the century, GenZ are technologically savvy and have grown up playing the advanced technology that is so commonplace today, therefore it’s crucial that gaming companies create engaging and mutually beneficial experiences.
In 2022, the emphasis will be on encouraging long-term collaborations between Indian gamers and the industry. Disrupting influence marketing is a key strategy that will come into play over the following months, with companies creating engaging branded content and bespoke products for the most loyal users.
Snappy Content Creation
Content creation plays a big part in keeping gaming relevant and ensuring that the industry thrives. However, up until now, most gaming-related content has been long-form, averaging between 30 and 45 minutes per single video.
While gamers themselves enjoy both creating and streaming long-form content, social media channels and platforms have shaken things up by introducing short video formats that will influence how gamers produce and share content in the future.
Instagram’s reels feature and YouTube’s new YT shorts are two such examples that are encouraging gamers to experiment more with short-form content.
Similarly, a new trend among western gamers will hit the Indian gaming community over the next few months that will increase the amount of short-form content being generated and watched. “Speed running” is a concept that has really taken the western gaming world by storm, with gamers uploading short bursts of fast gaming content to YouTube and Twitch. With India now being more connected than ever before in terms of access to digital content, it’s time for the region to get on board the trend.
