Jaya Lakshmi watches from the balcony of her third-floor apartment in Kukatpally, a suburban area of Hyderabad, as her children wave goodbye from their school bus. With mornings now designated as ‘me time’ for the software-professional-turned-homemaker, courtesy her industrious domestic help, she often indulges in a solid two-hour session engrossed in Candy Crush and online Ludo on her smartphone.
As the tasks in the games reach higher levels of difficulty, she willingly invests anywhere between ₹100 and ₹250 to purchase ‘extra lives’ or in-game assistance, oblivious to the fact that these seemingly small sums contribute to the billion-dollar revenue generated annually by the gaming industry worldwide.
According to the latest report released by FICCI-EY, the number of gamers in India is projected to reach 491 million by 2024, up from 455 million in the previous year. The online gaming segment alone is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21%, reaching ₹388 billion by 2026. In 2023, the industry witnessed a revenue surge to $3.1 billion, with a 22% growth rate. Notably, the real money gaming segment is poised to command 83% of the total revenues.
