As per a new report by Lumikai, a gaming and interactive media VC fund, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Indian e-sports industry is set to grow by 250% in the next five years.

The Indian e-sports industry is expected to grow from USD 40 million in 2022 to reach USD 140 million by 2027 at a CAGR of 32 per cent.

Lumikai | State Of India Gaming Report 2022

The report titled ‘State of India Gaming Report 2022’, highlighted that the number of e-sports players in India grew four times from 0.15 million in 2021 to 0.6 million in 2022. It is expected to grow 2.5 times over the next five years to reach 1.5 million by 2027.

As per the report, India’s gamer demographics demonstrate a diversity of play styles and geographies, with around 98 per cent playing games on smartphones, 23 per cent playing on PCs/laptops and 14 per cent on gaming consoles.

Speaking on the report, Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partner at Lumikai, said,

“As India’s most active early-stage gaming investor, Lumikai’s mission is to shine a light on the opportunities in the sector. Indians download more games than any other country on earth, and this is translating to a host of white spaces on the consumer demand side, including a largely young, professional gamer category who are increasingly paying for in-app purchases, an untapped audience of female gamers, and strong interest in games with Indian cultural resonance. It’s truly an exciting time to be building for India’s wide variety of gaming demographics.”

This new research is the most extensive primary study ever carried out on Indian gamers. It involved the participation of over 2,240 smartphone users across various demographics and geographies. Of the gamers surveyed, approximately 56% were from non-metropolitan areas, while 53% and 59% of metropolitan users belonged to the mid-core and hardcore categories, respectively.

Around 60 per cent of gamers surveyed were men, with 40 per cent being women. The report highlighted that relaxation is the top motivator for gamers (50 per cent), followed by making money (13%), killing time (12%), and socializing (11%).

Key highlights from the report | Indian E-sports Industry

-On average, Indian gamers spend between 8.5 to 11 hours per week playing games, with women spending more time than men. Women spent an average of 11.2 hours per week playing games, while men spent an average of 10.2 hours per week.

-Of the paying gamers, 64% made in-app purchases, followed by subscription payments at 57%.

-Within the last 12 months, around 59% of payers have started paying for games.

-The mid-core category had the highest average time spent per week at 3.4 hours/week. Examples of mid-core games are BGMI and Clash of Clans. This was followed by hardcore and real money games (RMG) at 3.3 hours/week. Examples of hardcore games are DOTA 2 and Genshin Impact.

Commenting on the report, Amitabh Nagpal, Head of Startup Ecosystem, AWS India (Amazon Web Services India Pvt. Ltd.), said,

“Startups are at the forefront of the rapid growth of the Indian gaming industry and use cloud technologies to build, run and grow their games. Using the broadest and deepest capabilities of cloud, AWS enables Indian gaming startups to deliver and scale the next generation gaming experience to millions of users worldwide.”

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