Last month, the GST Council imposed 28% tax on online gaming, horse racing and casinos. While the ‘online gaming’ part covered under this tax is the one that involves monetary transactions, online gaming for leisure — traditionally called video games or electronic games — has been thriving.
“Video games aren’t new,” says Arnold Su, vice-president, Consumer & Gaming PC, System Business Group, Asus India. “These have been around for a while. With new devices that support video games, we expect these to get even more popular.”
The market
Last month, Asus launched the ROG Ally — for gamers who want to play games anywhere, anytime.
According to data by Asus, the Indian gaming industry grew 35% in 2022 to reach Rs 135 billion, making it the fourth-largest segment of the Indian media & entertainment (M&E) sector. “With the rise in internet penetration and easy access to gaming PCs, a lot more Indians are now gaming,” Su says.
Sam Huang, country product manager (India), PC, Asus, adds that the pandemic contributed towards the normalisation of e-gaming and PC gaming, as there was a tremendous increase in traffic in gaming and over-the-top (streaming) services on social media platforms. “During the pandemic, gaming emerged as one of the most preferred entertainment options. The global spending on games rose by 17% to $10.5 billion,” Huang says. “In India, the industry grew at a CAGR of 21% during the lockdown, with the customer base crossing 300 million users.”
The advent of technology has brought many gaming-focused devices — including desktops, laptops, monitors and consoles. These machines are designed to uplift the gaming experience.
Su says that in India almost 98% of gamers play games on smartphones, 23% play on PCs/laptops and 14% on gaming consoles. “So, there is some amount of overlap and some gamers are device-agnostic,” he says. “Recent reports have shown that many smartphone users want to shift towards PC gaming — as smartphones may have some hardware limitations — and the industry is developing thin and light devices with powerful GPU.”
Last month, Asus launched the ROG Ally — for gamers who want to play games anywhere, anytime. “We have launched possibly the most portable and powerful dedicated gaming device,” says Su.
While most mobile and PC brands have dedicated gaming devices, as also regular smartphones and PCs that support gaming, Asus is the leader with above 35% market share in the premium gaming PC segment. ROG (Republic of Gamers) — the gaming arm of Asus — dominates both RTX and GTX segment in PC gaming in India and has been the top gaming brand in the last five quarters.
Popular gaming titles
The Indian gaming ecosystem is divided into three broad categories:
- Casual gaming that includes titles like Ludo and Candy Crush;
- Midcore gaming that has titles like BGMI and Clash of Clans;
- Hardcore gaming that includes games like DOTA 2, CS:Go, Valorant and Apex Legends.
Who is playing?
Huang said that gaming is prevalent across all age groups. “Among Gen Z gamers, 24% play daily and 40% weekly, while among millennials, it’s 24% and 38%, respectively. Among Gen X gamers, 17% play daily and 35% weekly,” he said. “Also, 40% of Indian gamers are women.”
Women, in fact, spend more time (11.2 hours per week on an average) on online games than men (10.2 hours), according to the ‘State of India Gaming Report 2022.’ “This number will only grow, leading to an increase in the number of gaming titles made for women,” Su said.
Online gaming and health
Su says though gaming has been criticised as an activity that interferes with physical growth and mental development of children, there are several positive effects as well. “These include cognitive skills development, hand-eye coordination and motor skills, multitasking and time management, collaboration and teamwork and creativity,” he says.