Indian e-sports industry to grow to $140 million by 2027: report

The report, brought out by AWSA and Lumikai found that the number of e-sports players in India grew four-fold, from 150,000 in 2021 to 600,000 in 2022, and is expected to grow 2.5x over the next five years to reach 1.5 million by 2027. E-sports revenue at $0.04 billion is a small segment currently but is fast growing at 32% CAGR through to 2027.

“Indians download more games than any other country on earth, and this is translating to a host of white spaces on the consumer demand side including a largely young, professional gamer category who are increasingly paying for in-app purchases, an untapped audience of female gamers, and strong interest in games with Indian cultural resonance,” said Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partner, Lumikai.

He added that India was a diverse market, maturing faster than expected across key vectors. The study is based on a survey of over 2,240 smart phone users across demographics and geographies in India.

Other findings:

● 50% of Indian Gamers surveyed are between the ages of 18-30

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● Women on average spend more time per week playing games (11.2 hours/week) as compared to men (10.2 hours/week)

●Relaxation is the top motivator for gamers with over 50%, followed by making money (13%), killing time (12%), and socializing (11%).

● 48% of non-gamers chose casual games (examples of casual games – Ludo King, Candy Crush) as their most preferred game category to play in the future, with 35% of gamers acknowledging that they have increased their time spent gaming in the last 12 months.

Paying for games:

64% of paying gamers make in-app purchases, 57% pay for subscription with 59% starting to pay for games in the last 12 months.
50% of paying gamers are willing to pay for casual games, 48% for mid-core and 39% for hyper-casual and RMG (real money gaming).

Indian themed games becoming popular:

● 82% of gamers are interested in playing games based on Indian mythology

● 43% of non-gamers are more inclined to start gaming if games are based on Indian themes like Ramayana.

● 79% of gamers are interested in playing games based on Indian themes and history, whereas 78% gamers are interested in playing games based on Indian celebrities.