India's gaming potential is 'immense

[SchizoidFreud]

India's gaming potential is 'immense

 

Developing territory is increasingly turning away from piracy and has a bright gaming future, says analyst firm

 

Global services firm Ernst and Young believes the Indian gaming market is turning its back on grey and black market trading, and now has all the elements in place for huge future growth.

 

The expansion of the Indian economy, increasing disposable incomes and a greater acceptance of gaming as a legitimate form of entertainment are just some of the reasons why the country’s video gaming scene is ready to explode, said the international firm.

 

“Indian consumers are warming up to gaming as an entertainment alternative with proliferation of gaming devices moving northwards,” explained Farokh Balsara, industry leader M & E and TCE Advisory leader for Ernst and Young.

 

“Disposable incomes of the upper middle class are growing with the economy, favourably influencing gaming growth.

 

The action, though, is still restricted to the top eight cities but with the right investments the potential for box business in India is immense.”

 

As in many burgeoning markets, growth in India has suffered from video game piracy, but the global services firm revealed that the country is moving away from the illegal practice and is shedding the shackles of its reputation for piracy.

 

Ashok Rajgopal, partner M & E for business advisory services at Ernst and Young added: “India-specific pricing strategies for gaming software at $5-$15, marketing spends by console players, increasing awareness and piracy control measures are beginning to show results. Our India-wide gaming market study has revealed a gradual shift of business from the illegitimate to the legitimate market.”

[lastAvenger]

If only our government stopped f**king around with import duties.

[HundredProofSam]

i really dont think india is moving away from piracy....but its good that they think we are

 

 

 

peace

[lithuvien]

Gaming publishers certainly don't think that there is any potential. No third party titles for us boys...

[Aftrunner]

Actually I would say we are moving away from piracy. Its a crawl. But thats how things go. Crawl, walk then run (props if you spotted The Wire referance). It will take a little time but I agree with the assesment.

 

I would say a lot more people are buying legit games than they were two years ago. Hell five years back the whole industry was illegit games. Things are definately changing.

 

I go to a local Planet M, Crosswords, Music world etc and they have more games on display than I would have expected in 2005. So yeah there is a potential. They just need to price a bit more sensibly. EG PS2 and PC games are priced very good. 360 and PS3 prices are still too steep for most people. But I can see growth over the next couple of years. Esp as prices drop.

[Keyofx]

So E&Y are the go-to guys for local videogame market analysis? This is news.

[Aftrunner]

@ H3lios Yeah I agree most of the new games are priced senisbly but they really need to go for a 999RS pricing on games older than a year. It would attract a lot more new users.

[Don Karnage]

So E&Y are the go-to guys for local videogame market analysis? This is news.

Yeah you ask them for their opinion and you know that the opposite will happen

[arjunsood2003]

having prices on par with US prices isnt gonna help..the Us gaming industry is very strong and gaming is a big part of ppls lives..they don mind spending quite some money on it..but here in india, its a new thing, and in order to really boost the industry, u need to keep it light on the pocket..

gaming is on the rise, though slowly..

[Ne0]

When a cup of coffee costs Rs 45 at a coffee bar in a city like Bangalore, no surprise that a console video game costs Rs 2000. Hell, a veg exotica in pizza hut costs around Rs 450 nowadays....

[GamerZ-Cloud Strife]

i really dont think india is moving away from piracy....but its good that they think we are

peace

 

HPS you are wrong

i think India Gaming Potential is growing..at least this site is contributing Indian Gaming Scenario ...

sites like GI and Angrypixel show that we indians dont take gaming lightly ..

X360 got officially launched,PS3 launched and Wii is gonna launch .. at last Gaming Industry are taking Indians Seriously

and Game developer starting their Dev houses here is only left..

[HundredProofSam]

Here's what I think

 

 

Is India really moving away from piracy?

 

We in India like to buy things that are cheap. So much so that we are even willing to sacrifice on quality a little bit to get things cheap. As a result, piracy has always been rampant in our country. It’s become second nature to us. We would rather pay Rs 50 for a pirated PC game with the packaging of another game (if you’re lucky), than Rs 299 for an original PC game.

 

Now that gaming is starting to pick up in India, obviously the sale of legitimate game software is picking up as well. But does that mean that India is moving away from piracy? A recent article by MCV, a leading industry publication, recognises the tremendous growth potential of the Indian gaming industry. That’s great, but they attribute this to an Ernst and Young study that has found that the Indian gaming market is turning its back on grey and black market trading.

 

 

Really? That doesn’t seem right. In fact, if you spend enough time at the IndianVideoGamer forums, you’ll find that that’s not the case at all. Every time a game’s release is delayed in India, you’ll see a handful of comments from members about how they’re just going to get themselves a pirated copy (not in those words, of course, because we don’t allow discussions on piracy on the forums) rather than wait for its Indian release.

 

Now, these forum members are the knowledgeable bunch; they know how the industry works and how grey market and pirated software affects the Indian industry. And I’m no one to pass judgement on them; it’s totally their decision. But if these guys can’t turn their backs on piracy, what chance does a middle-class father with a fixed-income have when he goes to buy his son a PC game and a bevy of pirated games costing Rs 50 are thrust in his face, while the original games (that carry a smaller profit margin for the seller) are stowed away in the back?

 

Then again, sales are picking up, which means that people are buying legitimate games. This is also in evidence on our forums. The way I see it, this situation is similar to the emergence of casual gaming. Millions upon millions of people around the world are buying the Wii. But looking at Wii sales figures, it would be inaccurate to say that hardcore gaming is dying out. Its just that the Wii has created this new demographic of gamers, rather than drawing people away from the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC platforms, although it may have done that to an extent.

 

Similarly, the increase in original software sales in India can be attributed to the fact that more people are discovering gaming as a viable entertainment option, rather than existing gamers (experts in the art of piracy ever since the 90s when the games industry in India was non-existent) giving up pirated games and ‘seeing the light’. Many of these new gamers have the disposable income to actually buy original games. So although many of us have given up piracy, for most part, the increase in original software sales is probably coming for this new crop of gamers, while the pirates have continued to pirate.

[GamerZ-Cloud Strife]

i think it moved away from piracy

i used to buy Pirated Copies but after knowing its affects on the Indian Gaming industry . i Stopped buying Pirated Stuff now i am proud of having Legit Copies of some 20 games. the best thing is to trade games rather than buying pirated ones

[Pushy]

while the pirates have continued to pirate.

 

AMEN, none can stop a pirate

[jackhammer06]

WIN Topic.....

My opinion will be that although the Gaming Market in India is definitely growing and people are now becoming more aware about what gaming actually is(console gaming specifically), i like to bring your attention to the other side of the coin as well.

It doesn't necessarily mean that as people who are becoming educated on console and stuff are going to buy it will bill and warrenty.For example,take the PS2 scenario.A person who has come to know about PS2 by seeing it in a friend's home will generally opt for the Modded version instead of the Original one (8 out of 10 times).They will point out that The softwares for PS2 are costly and The modded version is 1k cheaper than the original hardware.Herein likes the duty of the Software and Gaming industry to educate them about the amount of work and effort which has been put in by the Game developers for 2/3/4 years to finally bring out the game.Only through proper communcation from the Companies(both Sony and MS) with the people,will this be possible.

So,i think Gaming in India is definitely on the rise but unless and until the mental mindset of the gaming population in India does not change,i see no decline in gaming piracy over the next few years.

[Ne0]

I find it amusing when pirates say they won't be buying the original otherwise anyway, hence it shouldn't make a difference. Hard to argue with that logic !

 

Also, I think with the advent of storage media like BR for gaming, piracy will almost become void. I've never heard PS3 games being pirated at all....so I think in the near future pirates won't have a choice but to switch to the legal channel if they want to enjoy gaming !

[Hot-Drake-Pixel]

I wouldn't blame india alone when it comes to piracy. People across the globe pirate things, be it game, movie or music. Yes, in india piracy is present in great numbers. Many things such as higher import duty, per capita income, lack of policing contribute to piracy of gaming in india.

 

Instead of blaming any of the above we should blame the manufacturers for the lack of anti piracy measures in the hardware itself. Why not block the loophole itself in the first place than scratching the head for the root cause?

[Pushy]

i would like to say one thing, piracy and internet and hand to hand. u cannot stop internet, so, u cannot stop piracy. even if Govt. bans teh local shopkeeper from keeping pirated stuff, people will find(specially sellers) a way to sell pirated stuff, so, nope, piracy ain't stopping anywhere near teh future. but also on teh other hand, people who buy OG stuff r on teh rise too, more and more people are becoming aware of gaming/software and understand how much teh dev's have put in their hard work to finally bring out a piece of software.

[Ne0]

I wouldn't blame india alone when it comes to piracy. People across the globe pirate things, be it game, movie or music. Yes, in india piracy is present in great numbers. Many things such as higher import duty, per capita income, lack of policing contribute to piracy of gaming in india.

 

Instead of blaming any of the above we should blame the manufacturers for the lack of anti piracy measures in the hardware itself. Why not block the loophole itself in the first place than scratching the head for the root cause?

 

that is y you have modchips . I'm waiting for the day when gaming companies will bring in the dreaded DRM to consoles....then its 'game over' !

[Hot-Drake-Pixel]

that is y you have modchips . I'm waiting for the day when gaming companies will bring in the dreaded DRM to consoles....then its 'game over' !

 

PS3 is still unaffected by it. DRM is mostly assiciated with downloadable contents. So I guess DRM will have to wait till download of huge contents become convenient.