By Kameshwaran Elangovan
India, with its millennial and Gen-Z population, is a haven for gamers. It is not surprising to note that certain games, even after being banned, have more than 30 million active users in India. The Indian gaming market is valued somewhere between $905 million and $1.2 billion.
The spending patterns of the Indian gaming population with respect to gaming assets which includes but is not limited to character skins, power upgrades, and games themselves is in stark contrast to the perception that India is a freeloading community.
A lot of factors like global exposure, the ready availability of 4G connectivity, the performance capacities of hardware, and the earning to the rapid rise in the adoption of gaming in India.
The steady up-and-to-the-right trend should not be hampered by factors like change in perception of time and money being spent. To add to this, games have a greater probability of being taken seriously if time, effort, the money spent on games can be monetized.
Considering all these factors, it would be perfect for the Indian gaming community to shift from Web 2.0 to Web3 gaming.
Why Web3 gaming?
Web3 and the superpowers bestowed upon this new version of the web, thanks to NFTs and blockchain, present a major bliss to the gaming world. India, being home to one of the largest gaping populations, can stand to greatly benefit from transitioning into Web3 gaming.
Web3 ensures complete ownership of assets, thanks to NFTs. NFTs, as you may have known, reside on the blockchain and they are immutable by default. This would mean that gaming assets would now be tradeable on NFT marketplaces. Irrespective of a gamer using an asset (be it an upgrade or a power up or a skin), they can still trade it on the marketplace, meaning they can get back the money they spent. Gaming assets which were once considered expenses could now be considered investments in the Web3 arena.
Web3 also opens up opportunities for gamers to earn from playing games. With this innovative dimension of gaming called play-to-earn, abbreviated P2E, gamers can now monetize the time and effort they spend in the game. This opens a new portal of profitability for gamers. This could also be the start of a new pocket of gig economy. Just like how being a content creator might not have been a mainstream profession a decade ago but has the capacity to make millions these days, being a gamer in the Web3 space also opens up congruent opportunities.
Being home to more than a seventh of the global population and that too, with one of the youngest populations on the planet, India had a major influence in steering the direction of the global market. When Web3 games become popular in India, it is quite possible that Indian game developers and Indian NFTs/blockchain companies will start developing games that are catered to the Indian market, and in this process, sparking a global trend.
Unlike previous technical advancements, Web3 and blockchain have readily been available for India… And we have seen some Indian NFT and blockchain companies mark a strong presence on the global tech map. If India can transition into the Web3 space with respect to gaming and be confident about a massive chunk of native population being ready to play those games, it will also encourage a lot of Indian companies, creators, and innovators to build Web3 games, enhancing the entrepreneurial intensity in India.
We have already seen Meta Cricket League (MCL) – the world’s first P2E cricket game launched by Jump.trade – change the perception of cricket and gaming in India. With more than 50,000 NFTs being sold in less than 10 minutes and with 24-hour tournaments enabling people play MCL all round the clock, it has already been proven that India has an affinity for Web3 games.
Above everything, it is only natural that new technology with better utility and benefits slowly sidelines the obsolete predecessor. In the near future, a game not being in the Web3 space will be akin to an e-commerce website not accepting online payments! For the Indian gaming scene to become more global in its exposure, for Indians to compete in international tournaments, for the Indian gaming community to collaborate with the gamers around the world, and above everything, for Indians to look at gaming as a possible gig economy, it is absolutely essential that the Indian gaming community focus transitions smoothly and seamlessly from Web2.0 to Web3.0.
The author is COO and co-founder, Guardianlink