The suited corporate types who parade as underworld dons over the weekend, manicured college girls who have their own pigs to feed and land to plough, 15-year-old motor racing champions, 60-year-old tennis pros ? these are the inhabitants of a large and growing parallel universe, passionate citizens of an alternative reality being shaped by an increasingly sophisticated realm of animated gaming.

Gaming has come a long way since Snake on brick-like mobiles, Tetris on hand-held devices, and Mario Brothers in consoles. While it is still nascent in India, a large tech-savvy population, the promise of 3G, a high growth rate in participation in social networking sites and a barrage of gadgets are paving the way for an explosion in the gaming industry, which is being projected to outpace the growth rates of other entertainment segments in the next five years.

According to a report by Ficci and KPMG published earlier this week, a study of trends in various media and entertainment segments have shown that the R1,000-crore gaming industry in India, which has grown at a CAGR of 32% from 2007 to 2010, is likely to reach R3,800 crore by 2015, indicating a CAGR of 31%.

?The Indian gaming industry has reached an inflection point and we will see exponential growth on all platforms reaching a critical mass in the next 18-24 months,? says Prakash Ahuja, CEO of game development and testing firm Gameshastra and participant in the study.

Not surprisingly, mobile gaming is being pegged as the biggest growth driver, followed by online games and console games. While console gaming is expected to grow at a

CAGR of 20% to R1,420 crore by 2015, mobile gaming will touch R1,750 crore, growing at a whopping 45% CAGR in the same period. Online and PC gaming is projected to grow at 35% CAGR to R670 crore.

?A quick 3G rollout, the launch of newer devices such as smart phones and tablets, increasing Net penetration are factors that are pushing mobile and online gaming,? says Jehil Thakkar, executive director, media and entertainment, KPMG.

Ancillary industries such as gaming peripherals and accessories are also starting to scale up. Razer, a US-based accessories maker, which entered India two years ago, says that its operations are now beginning to take off, prompting new product launches and expansion.

Sashank Bhandaru, business development executive, Razer India, says, ?While it is hard to estimate, the accessories market is growing at roughly 20% month-on-month. People are realising that the quality of gaming depends largely on the quality of accessories available to them, and many are spending on high-quality gaming peripherals. We see India as a big market, and we are working on building our base here and strengthening marketing operations.?

According to experts, the gaming market presents a lucrative investments as well, with simple revenue models and low capex being attractive propositions for capital allocators. ?Gaming and animation are and will continue to remain attractive to strategic investors and the venture capitalist community in the short run,? says an analyst from KPMG, citing Aptech?s $16-million acquisition of Maya Entertainment last year as proof.

However, companies setting up shop in India find several shortcomings. One of the foremost issues is that of a dearth of creative talent or the balance of creativity and technical knowledge. ?The technical capability in India is immense and its value is as a service partner in developing games. However, India is still not at a level where it can publish games, particularly in the console space, for a global market,? says Nagarajan S, COO, Visual Computing Labs, Tata Elxsi. Tata Elxsi has provided services for developing large properties such as Alice in Wonderland games, and has also developed its own games for the iPad and iPhone.

Zynga, the maker of online games like Farmville and Mafia Wars, says that it has had to think unconventionally when setting up its largest studio outside the US in Bangalore. ?Bollywood has given us the right mix of people. For instance, our creative director Dhimant Vyas is acclaimed for his work in movies such as Taare Zameen Par. Thinking out of the box has helped us here. We are looking for more people with an entrepreneurial drive combined with engineering and artistic skills to join us,? says Shan Kadavil, country manager, Zynga India.

For gaming to go to the next level, both in terms of users and developers, companies feel that there is a need to change the cultural perception of gaming from being a hobby to a professional electronic sport.

?One of the things we are working on is building and sponsoring gaming teams in India who can take part in competitive tournaments. Gaming is still in its initial stages and we are looking at taking it to the next level. In the next six months, we will try and put together a competitive, professional gaming team,? says Bhandaru of Razer.