Few Mobile Video Gamers in India Pay to Play

Mobile video game players in India are less likely to pay for their gaming activities than their counterparts in other BRIC countries, according to research from Newzoo and OneSky. Out of 131.7 million mobile gamers in India last year, just 23.7 million, or 18% of the total, paid for gaming content.

That compared with 27% of mobile gamers in Russia, 35.4% of mobile gamers in Brazil and 30.1% in China.

Those gamers include people who play both on tablets and on smartphones. In India, the vast majority use smartphones. This year, nearly 160 million people in India will play mobiles games on a smartphone, Newzoo and OneSky estimate. Those users will account for $191.4 million in mobile gaming revenues, with gamers playing on tablets contributing another $96.7 million in mobile gaming revenues this year. Those figures are expected to more than double next year, with total mobile gaming revenues in India hitting $571.7 million.

Earlier research from Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) and KPMG put a INR13.4 billion ($219.8 million) estimate on gaming industry revenues from mobile this year, somewhat lower than Newzoo’s figures. By the end of their forecast period, 2019, FICCI and KPMG expected INR26.2 billion ($429.8 million) in mobile gaming revenues in India?lower than the Newzoo prediction for 2016.

Games are a leading internet activity for web users in India, according to Octane Research. A May 2014 survey found that 60% of internet users in the country played games that month. Based on Newzoo’s uptake estimates for smartphone gaming users and eMarketer’s estimates of the total smartphone audience in India, nearly 95% of smartphone users in the country will play games this year.