Job seekers in India are excited at the prospect of a growing online games market. Industry experts believe that by 2025, the gaming industry will be generating 2.5 lakh new jobs in India. This is hardly a surprise, as the industry is growing at a CAGR of more than 20%.
Buoyed by the revenue flow of real money game platforms like the Pocket52 online poker app, gaming now constitutes 30% of the new media market. With more and more people finding a recreational avenue in rummy and Texas Holdem poker, new gaming companies are emerging while the existing ones are expanding. All in all, it is a good phase for the gaming professionals.
The Dynamics Behind the Career Opportunities
The Indian gaming market is expected to reach $8.6 billion by FY27. India is already among the top three countries in external development in art, engineering, co-development, and quality assurance. While there is an ever-present overseas demand for Indian service providers, the domestic market is also brimming with opportunities.
Domestically, India is home to over 700 million smartphone users, a number that is growing every day. Smartphones are becoming the preferred tool for gaming, with gamers using them to test their Texas Holdem skills on platforms like the Pocket52. With 90% of Indian gamers going mobile, the number of gamers in the country is expected to be closer to 600 million as FY2024 ends. The average time spent on gaming during the week is expected to increase from 10 hours to 13 hours by FY2024.
The dominant presence of smartphones as a gaming device has influenced a change in the gaming culture in the country. Originally seen as a childโs play, gaming is now popular among people of all ages. 57% of gamers in India are above the age of 30, while 43% of them are young adults up to the age of 30. This cultural shift in outlook towards gaming has made gaming universally popular in the country.
This cultural shift got easier, given the drastic development in Indiaโs digital infrastructure. Gaming sessions are no longer prey to weak internet connections. 5G continues to penetrate deep into Indiaโs heartlands, so much so that two-thirds of the gaming population in India is now from non-metro locations. The availability of robust payment gateways has made real money games a smooth experience and eases in-app purchases and subscriptions.
All of these means that the Indian gaming industry is in a position to absorb thousands of fresh professionals.
A Vibrant Job Market
It is estimated that India is home to over 1400 gaming companies that engage in in-house developments and/or act as service providers. This also includes more than 500 gaming studios. The gaming industry is presently employing more than 15,000 game developers and programmers.
Video game publishers and developers are at the forefront of job creation. These companies develop, publish and distribute video games across platforms such as consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. Examples of such companies include global majors like Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts, as well as many homegrown companies.
These companies directly hire professionals or seek services from gaming companies that have teams of game developers and designers. Mobile game developers are becoming another leading employer in this industry. They develop and publish games for smartphones and tablets and are behind legendary successes like Angry Birds.
The demand for game developers spans development skills around Unity Engine, Unreal Engine, C++, C#, and computer gaming software. The popularity of mobile games and virtual reality games means there are more career opportunities in these fields than in traditional console and PC games.
The need for talent is on the rise, and so is the need to raise future talent.
A Sectoral Focus
The rise in online gaming career opportunities is also reflected in the plethora of new educational courses and institutes coming up in India. In 2023, there were more than 165 game design colleges in India, where skills like animation, illustrations, graphics, UI, UX, 3D designs etc., are taught.
The government is also encouraging the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector to gain healthy momentum. It formed the AVGC Task Force in 2023, which predicted a CAGR of 14-16% for the AVGC sector in the next ten years. The Task Force has also proposed a national curriculum framework for the AVGC sector.
Assembly Line Prepared
As the gaming industry continues to grow, career opportunities in the sector are on the ascendancy. This is fuelled by an international demand for Indian gaming professionals, as well as the rising number of homegrown gaming titles, apps and studios. This latter is partly due to the growth and expansion of real money game apps like Pocket52. On the supply side, private and government initiatives are already in motion to ensure that the talents continue to come in. For qualified gaming professionals, exciting times are ahead in the job market.
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