This speaks volumes about the ubiquity of gaming and its pull factor,” Agarwal adds. “Another interesting trend is how one sees so many popular products- Amazon, Paytm, Goibibo, MX Player, and hundreds of others-having a gaming section within their apps to engage their users. Of course, during the pandemic, time spent on gaming went up as well, but what truly changed the shape of the industry was the eagerness of those who had never played games earlier to try their hands at one,” he says. “The biggest trend that one saw during the pandemic was the conversion of a large mass of non-gamers to casual gamers. Gaming has been an intensely discussed topic over the past few months, says Gaurav Agarwal, co-founder of Gamezop, a casual gaming arcade and gaming solutions provider based in Gurgaon. It also helps beginner creators through various initiatives including its one-click mobile streaming app and best-in-class creator programme. The company claims to offer a slew of interactive features that other VOD-first platforms don’t, and the platform’s focus on mobile gaming communities helps it serve those in ways that desktop-focused platforms have not been able to do, say the founders. Loco has grown rapidly over the past 12 months, with monthly active viewers scaling by 6x, monthly active streamers by 10x, and live watch hours by 48x since June 2020.
It will continue to see secular upwards revenue growth with lockdowns only accelerating the consumption of gaming and live-streaming, bringing them to the forefront of the consumer entertainment experience,” say Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, founders of Loco, a live game streaming and e-sports platform based in Mumbai.
One of the key drivers of this growth is the rising popularity of game streaming among consumers as they can play from the comfort of their homes. “Gaming is one of the few bright spots as compared to other industry sectors that have been negatively impacted by the lockdown. This is at a time when several other sectors were hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis. In fact, the Indian gaming industry is one of the few sectors that has managed to stay afloat amid the pandemic. The sector, which is currently at Rs 136 billion, is poised to grow more than double by FY25 to Rs 290 billion, says the report, ‘Beyond the Tipping Point’.
People like Mahajan are fuelling a boom in the sector, with over 433 million users playing online games as of FY21, as per a report by consulting firm KPMG. He may not be devoting as much time as he did during the lockdowns, but he says he jumps into the ‘battlefield’ every now and then to win the ultimate game. Starting off as a casual gamer, Mahajan has at least six games in his smartphone today. Playing ‘Call of Duty Mobile’-a first-person shooter game -the Delhi-based advertising executive says he was able to overcome ‘social isolation’ through gaming during the pandemic. For 3-8 players, ages 8 and up.Pranesh Mahajan, 26, initially took to mobile gaming to relieve stress induced by the first wave of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdowns last year. This iconic set includes 96 playing chips, a 14" playing board, and complete instructions. This game blends the classic gameplay of rummy and poker to form an entirely new experience. The Poker Pool is won by the player with the best poker hand at the end of the game. The center compartment is won by the first player to empty their hand. If a bonus isn't collected in one game, the chips remain in the compartment and are carried over to the next game. The object of the game is to discard all cards while collecting bonus chips. Play moves to any player who has the next card in the suit and continues until no plays are left. Cards are played by suit, with the first player playing the lowest card in their hand. A deck of cards is completely dealt at the beginning of the game. When that card is played during the game, the holder of the card wins the corresponding chips. Seven of the compartments are identified with a bonus card. To begin a game, each player puts a chip in each of nine compartments in the plastic game board. With elements of rummy (cards played in sequence) and poker (chips!), Michigan Rummy will appeal to fans of both games.