India’s game market could grow from $3.8 billion in 2024 to $9.2 billion by 2029, according to a report by Lumikai.
India’s game market could grow from $3.8 billion in 2024 to $9.2 billion by 2029, according to a report by Lumikai.
That represents a 20% compound annual growth rate. Lumikai, a venture capital fund in India focused on games, also said that India’s $3.8 billion gaming market is about 30% of its broader $12.5 billion new media market.
Gaming is India’s the fastest-growing new media segment, and it is just shy of the $3.9 billion video and over-the-top media market (based on the fiscal year periods ending March 31). Overall, the new media market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 16%, said Salone Sehgal, founding general partner at Lumikai, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Such growth is similar to China’s growth in gaming a couple of decades ago, making India the next hot market that game investors should follow, Sehgal said. Aditya Deshpande, senior investment associate at Lumikai, said in an interview with GamesBeat. believes that gaming is in the process of surpassing India’s vaunted Bollywood film industry.
Lumikai’s own growth has mirrored the Indian gaming market’s growth. Back in 2020, when it started, there were 25 game companies in India. But over the course of five years, Lumikai has evaluated more than 2,300 leads with Indian game entrepreneurs, Sehgal said.
The Lumikai State of India Interactive Media and Gaming Report is being unveiled at the Lumikai Insignia interactive media and gaming summit for Lumikai’s limited partners. Key statistics
The report found that out of the total of 591 million gamers (up 23 million from a year ago) in India, female gamers rose from 41% to 44%. And in fiscal year 2024, more than eight million new paying users were added, taking total paying gamers to 148 million.
Sehgal said Indian gamers have seen a 30% increase in average weekly gaming time to 13 hours. That was double the time spent on social platforms. Average revenue per paying user of $22, which was up 15% in a year. About 66% of gamers were from non-metro cities, with 43% of gamers being first-time earners in the 18-year-old to 30-year-old age group.
