Мачайя Каленгада, Program Director of GDAI (Game Developers Association of India), describes what is happening in the Indian game development industry as a tectonic shift. The country has 550 million players, 175 million of whom are already paying users – spending on in-game purchases, subscriptions, and other channels. An industry that spent decades working on other people’s ideas has begun creating its own projects and intellectual property (IP). The audience is young, connected to mobile internet, and, most importantly, already generating revenue when monetised correctly.
An Audience That Cannot Be Ignored
The scale of the Indian gaming market is best understood through demographics. The median age of the population is 29, and more than half of all players are under 30, according to a joint report by BITKRAFT Ventures and Redseer Strategy Consultants. This generation grew up with a smartphone in hand and access to some of the cheapest mobile data rates on the planet.
This combination of size and youth makes India one of the few markets where user base growth is still far from saturation, and where the habit of digital payments is forming right now.
Moreover, this applies not only to traditional video games but also to the iGaming entertainment sector. The scale of this market became clear following conversations with industry experts, who shared a list featuring no deposit free spins offers from the largest iGaming brands. These experts noted that the share of players from India on such platforms grows year-over-year. This makes the market promising not only for video games.
Mobile Dominates, but PC and Console Are Gaining Momentum
96% of Indian players choose mobile platforms. However, the PC and console segment is accelerating, largely due to initiatives from major publishers and platform holders.
- Sony India Hero Project currently supports 78 studios
- The Krafton incubator works with around 15 teams developing original games
These programs function not merely as grant funds but as entry points for studios that previously had no experience with independent releases.
Why India Earns Less Than It Could
The download figures are staggering: more than 8 billion mobile game downloads in fiscal year 2024–2025, a global record according to Sensor Tower. Yet mobile gaming revenue amounts to only around $400–401 million, per Statista. BITKRAFT’s forecast values the entire digital gaming market (mobile, PC, and console) at $1.9 billion in 2025, growing to $4.4 billion by 2030.
The gap is especially visible on a per-paying-user basis: $27 per year in India versus more than $500 in Japan. At the same time, that figure has grown up to nine times in India since 2020. The reasons for the gap lie on both sides. Global studios often apply pricing models that are out of reach for Indian wallets. Local developers too frequently rely on advertising-based models instead of building direct purchase tools and audience trust. The BGMI case from Krafton shows that with the right approach, payments do grow: the paying user base increased 27% year-over-year in 2025.
How India Stopped Working on Other People’s Ideas
For many years, the country served as a service hub: animation, QA, and outsourced production for foreign companies. Expertise accumulated, but authorship remained with the client. The turning point came when Nazara became the country’s first publicly listed gaming company, and around 2019 major Indian studios were acquired by international players, including a Swedish company. After that, global corporations began expanding their presence in India not just for services, but for game development with their own P&L.
Today, 5 of the top 10 most downloaded mobile games are made by Indian publishers. The remaining half still belongs to foreign teams, and it is precisely this gap that a new generation of studios is working to close. Zynga, Ubisoft, Keywords Studios, Rockstar Games, and Electronic Arts all maintain significant operations in the country, and Rockstar’s India office is one of the largest in the entire company structure.
Indie Breakthroughs and Export Hits
Independent developers have already proven that Indian games can find a global audience.
- Raji, an indie action game set in the setting of Indian mythology, achieved notable international success
- We Are So Group accumulated more than 350,000 Steam wishlist additions before launch
- Ludo King continues to deliver strong results in Europe and the Americas
The most critical shortage, however, is not artists or animators, but game designers capable of building systems, levels, and narrative design. This specialisation determines whether a product becomes a fully realised game or remains merely a visually appealing shell.
Payment Infrastructure as a Hidden Advantage
Beyond its young audience and affordable internet, India possesses a surprisingly powerful payment infrastructure that directly affects game monetisation. The UPI (Unified Payments Interface) system processed 228 billion transactions in 2025, up 32% year-over-year, with a turnover exceeding $2.7 trillion. India leads the world in real-time payments volume, accounting for roughly half of the global market.
For a small studio from a non-capital city, this means the ability to scale sales without a long chain of intermediaries and fintech intermediaries.
GDAI Systemic Initiatives and Government Support
GDAI is preparing to launch a six-week residency program where international and Indian developers will collaborate on new projects. In parallel, partnerships with more than 30 colleges are expanding, game jams are being held, and the first faculty development program is focused specifically on training designers rather than artists alone. The government supports the industry within the animation, VFX, gaming & comics sector through incubation policies, subsidised co-working spaces, and grants to attract initial capital.
The 2035 Target: Five Thousand Studios and 5% of the Global Market
The long-term goal is ambitious: by 2035, the country should have 5,000 studios creating original IP. Of these, 100 should reach revenues exceeding $10 million per year, and another 100 should reach the $100 million mark. Together, this would give India approximately 5% of the global gaming market.
India has already moved from working on other people’s projects to creating its own. A vast young audience and world-class payment tools make this market not “promising someday” but actionable right now. India Game Developer Conference, scheduled for October, promises to be the platform where the energy of the community complements any data-driven presentation.
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