Popularity of gaming in India is catalyzed by factors like a young consumer base, rising disposable incomes, introduction of new sophisticated gaming genres with easier learning curves, internet affordability, rapidly increasing number of smartphone and tablet users, the growth of the influencer economy, and lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This jump in market growth will be sustained by the ‘mobile-first’ phenomenon. While India’s gaming market is currently smaller than the US and China, it is worth about US$1.5 billion and is expected to triple in size to reach US$5 billion by 2025. In India, gaming is growing faster than most media sub-sectors, including OTT video, cinema, and home entertainment and audio. Skill gaming refers to pay-to-play online games, including fantasy sports, like Dream 11 and MPL fantasy cricket, casual games, and card games like rummy or poker, which require some use of skill. It will also boost scope for investments, while safeguarding the interests of skilled game players, whose population has grown from 360 million in 2020 to 510 million in 2022. The gaming industry welcomed the move as regulatory certainty will bring it legitimacy. A report from The Business Standard suggests that the need for regulation comes after growing incidents of money laundering and addiction due to skill gaming India is among the world’s four largest gaming markets.
India’s federal government is reportedly considering setting up a regulatory body for regulating the ‘skill gaming’ industry to stimulate investment and protect player interests. It is also being anticipated that the gaming industry – which currently attracts a GST of 18 percent – might soon see an increased levy at 28 percent. In this article, we assess India’s gaming market and note prominent investment trends, followed by listing the relevant laws based on jurisdiction and associated regulatory bodies.Ī uniform regulation at the federal level is seen by many industry watchers as necessary for the gaming industry to reach its next development phase, capitalizing on a combination of growth drivers, such as India’s expanding mobile phone user base, growing spending power, broader access to higher internet speed, and pandemic restrictions to outward mobility. India’s skill gaming industry is keenly awaiting regulatory reform to attract greater investments and protect the largely young gaming population.
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