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Passion for pocket-sized gaming devices is growing. For mobile gamers there
is nothing better than a device that allows multiple applications including
calling, browsing, and gaming. Mobile gaming, which can become a win-win
situation for all players, may be at a nascent stage in India today, but it has
a huge potential for growth.
According to IDC, revenue for the mobile online games market in APEJ last
year grew 35%. The total number of mobile online gamers reached 97.6 mn last
year, with over half (51.3%) from China. Korea and India made up the next two
largest markets, at 25.3%, and 11.4%, respectively.
Gaming has become an innovative part of operators and content developers
services, and provides a change from basic voice services and simple text
messaging. Both operators and content providers are now designing strategies to
develop new, high-value wireless revenue streams. An increasing number of
end-users are now vouching for entertainment on the go, and this end-user demand
is propelling the growth of mobile gaming in India.
The opportunities within this market have caught the attention of developers,
animators, musicians, content providers, operators and handset manufactures.
In-Stat/MDR estimates that the Indian market will generate close to $336 mn in
annual revenue by 2009. It also predicts that the global mobile gaming market
will top $6.8 bn by 2013.
At present, in India, around 1,50,000 mobile games are downloaded on a daily
basis. There are nearly 300 mn mobile-phone users in the country, out of which
91.6 lakh mobile phone users were added during August this year alone. Globally,
mobile games enjoy a market share amounting to Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000 crore.
Currently, the Indian mobile games market is pegged at around Rs 150 crore, but
is expected to grow eight to ten times within the next two to three years.
Game On
A plethora of opportunities in mobile gaming is stimulating the development
of innovative business models. In a move to reap the benefits of this growing
industry, Idea Cellular has joined hands with gaming portal Zapak to create a
property called Idea presents Zapak Genius. The new campaign takes the
operators What an idea drive forward. The cellular service provider is
providing interactive gaming, enabling gamers to take part in the contest and
earn money.
Pradeep Srivastava, CMO, Idea Cellular says, Gaming in India is growing at a
good pace. Mobile Internet penetration in India is due to the spread of GPRS and
has already overtaken fixed Internet. With an exploding GPRS-enabled handset
base, we foresee high growth opportunities in the mobile gaming industry, and
consumers have access to a wide catalog of games already. Our WAP portal,
Ideafresh offers some interesting categories like strategy, action, racing,
casual, and 3D puzzles that are supported by multiple consumer-friendly price
points, and try and buy subscription models.
Srivastava says that mobile gaming has opportunities for all partners in the
game. We see both partners playing an equal role in creating this ecosystem and
creating value for our mobile consumers. It will continue to remain a win-all
situation, he says.
According to Krishna Durbha, head, sales and marketing, VAS, Reliance
Communications, mobile gaming is a useful component of VAS for any operator, and
its growth depends on highly fragmented users. Gaming is generating revenues,
but definitely not as high as musicthe reason being that gaming is meant for
very niche and dedicated users. Even if one has a GPRS-enabled, multimedia
phone, one may not be keen on taking the pain of downloading games and paying
for them.
I dont think gaming will take off on its own. The operators will have to
push it aggressively. India is largely a pre-paid (connections) market, in that
case gaming can become a hit only if there are some really innovative models,
he adds.
New Avenues
Gaming through mobile phones opens a lot of avenues for manufactures in the
arena of delivering consumer experience and making the phone unique in the
offering, and the possibility of earning revenues jointly shared by
network/service providers.
Meridian Mobile, targeting the youth in India with its Fly handsets, sees a
rich ground gaming sector. We understand that the gaming market is very
segmented with specific needs of mobile phone hardware and software. Hence we
take great care in developing mobile phones for delivering the right kind of
consumer experience, says Rajiv Khanna, CEO, Meridian Mobile.
Gaming offers a great deal of scope to mobile manufacturers. It is a major
source of entertainment and the demand for mobile games is growing. People
across segments are now interested in games, and manufacturers are focusing on
gaming-specific devices, says Anil Arora, business group head, mobile, PCs and
DAV, LG Electronics.
Nokias N-Gage has become a rage among pocket gamers. For Nokia India, mobile
gaming appears high on the list of priorities. It is offering a free N-Gage game
to anyone who downloads the client and registers by the end of October.
According to the handset manufacturer, handset makers see countries like
India as having high potential for mobile gaming, particularly among consumers
who dont own gaming consoles.
However, pitching N-Gage as a platform for low-income gamers is something of
a stretch, given that theyll need either Wi-Fi or an unlimited data tariff to
download the large N-Gage games on their phones, it says.
Spice X-1 is a recent entrant in the mobile gaming space. The handset comes
preloaded with games that, through a dedicated gaming console, allows users to
play (without console) with its onboard dedicated gaming keys. Samsung Innova is
another in the list of handsets that emphasizes on the gaming experience.
LG Electronics has introduced its latest mobile phone technology, M-Toy, that
allows gamers to play by shaking, jerking, tilting or moving the phone in
specific directions to initiate game play.
Game Pause
Even as mobile gaming has gained significant momentum in countries like the
US, the mobile gaming development industry remains highly fragmented due to the
wide variety of mobile operating systems, available handsets, and lack of
industry standardization. Analysts believe that mobile gaming will continue to
be a key contributor to wireless data usage and revenue, but still the industry
has significant challenges. This fragmentation has resulted in mobile developers
and publishers taking the difficult decision of spending valuable resources
developing games on the platforms, experts believe.
Gaming has to depend on other media as well. Besides films and cricketthe
two biggest youth draws of the countrythe gaming industry is also targeting
television to a great extent. Reliance ADA Groups gaming portal, Zapak has tied
up with three leading TV shows including Dus Ka Dum, Battle Station and Arsalaan
to build games around it. Indiagames, which is developing a lot of games based
on films, especially those released by UTV, has also created games for the
recently concluded TV series Kya Aap Panchvi Paas se Tez Hai?
The main requirements for a gaming device are that it should have a good,
large screen along with comfortable keypads and a fast processor. This is
possible only on high-end phones currently, says Khanna of Meridian Mobile.
In India, arrival of 3G will add to the growth by making it possible to
develop and sell high-end games. These games will match the quality of what was
seen on first generation Playstation consoles. But till then, due to
infrastructure constraints, mobile gaming will continue to suffer.
Heena Jhingan
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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