With 3G services set to drive the consumption of mobile games content, the size of mobile gaming market may multiply by at least six times in next three years to reach Rs 1,500 crore or nearly 13% of the overall mobile VAS market in the country. Currently, the mobile gaming market is just about 3% of the overall mobile value-added services market.
This will be possible as the 3G roll out will push the current 50 million active users of mobile games by 300% to 200 million active users of high-speed data and value added services, says Nitish Mittersain, chairman, Mobile VAS Committee, Indian Merchant Chambers and CEO of Nazara Technologies.
Experts say larger bandwidth, faster download speeds of 3G coupled with rich featured devices having faster processor, larger screen size and more memory will result in an enhanced mobile entertainment experience for 3G users. ?One of the biggest segments of VAS to gain will be mobile gaming with an increase in time spent on each game between 3 to 4 times for an average user,? Mittersain told FE. According to Salil Bhargava, CEO, Jump Games, the arrival of mobile 3G will increase the uptake of mobile internet based games. ?Gaming will become more persistent. Going forward, features like in-game micro-transactions will also help increase the gameplay longevity and keep the user hooked to the game,? Bhargava said.
Indian mobile handset manufacturing companies are also gearing up to meet the demand for 3G handers. ?Zen Mobiles is planning to come up with 3G enabled handsets in next three months to tap the potential in this segment. We see a huge growth in the respective segment and our R&D team is already working on the product development?, commented Deepesh Gupta, MD, Zen Mobile.
According to global research company Frost & Sullivan, the mobile VAS market in India will be over Rs 5,400 crore by the end of this year and over Rs 12,000 crore by the end of 2015 with 3G services playing a crucial role. The local mobile gaming firms are now looking to invest over Rs 150 crore in next six months to gear up for the challenges thrown open by the 3G services. Operators have already started testing compelling mobile gaming content. Nazara Technologies recently introduced famous comic strip Archie in regional languages. ?We are catering to the regional markets and at the same time adding value to the comic?s portfolio by bringing their much-loved Archie comics out in regional languages. More challenging games will come up after 3G rollout,? Mittersain said.