WinZO focus is to build a community for gamers, local youth and influencers. It wishes to bring ‘Skill Game’ experience across more broad-based genres such as casual and multiplayer games in the hands of first-time smartphone users in Tier 2- Tier 5 cities.
The question here is, at a time when the Indian market isn’t that equipped with the jargons of the online gaming industry, how are startups going to thrive? And, how would technology play Cupid?
Saumya Singh Rathore, Co-Founder, WinZO Games has the answers.
How do you think has the lockdown provided a ground for greater consumption of gaming?
The current situation of lockdown across the country is really unfortunate. People are stuck at home and are looking for an escape during these unprecedented times. Mostly, they are consuming two types of content for entertainment: Videos and Games. The implementation of lockdown has really helped the media & entertainment industry to boom at an exponential rate. We at WinZO have noticed the behaviour of our users change 360 degrees – the prime-time for our users have shifted to morning hours (8AM to 12PM) than earlier late evening trends( 7PM to 11PM) and a sudden increase in traffic from metro cities across India is also being observed.
Majority of these people are working professionals who are connecting with their loved ones via a common activity- online gaming over casual and hypercasual games. During this pandemic people are connecting more and distance does not seem to matter. The audio and video chat feature on WinZO has also observed a sudden boost as people are chatting and simultaneously playing games such as Ludo, Carrom, Pool, etc with their family and friends.
All the shifts in these parameters might be temporary. But the behavioral changes in the post lockdown world will be significant. We expect the sudden surge in traffic to come back to normal, but it’s the product in itself that will make these new users stick to the platform. People will prefer to stay/stick to platforms that will appeal the most to them.
Could you acquaint us with WinZO’s Game Developer Console?
One of the USPs of our product is that by virtue of being a Vernacular product, we have managed to penetrate across Bharat and established a stronghold across the country. We are catering to Bharat in 12+ regional languages at the moment and providing them with best of personalised content on the app.
On the B2B front, WinZO’s Game Developer Console definitely stands out the way content acquisition and game integration has been conducted in the gaming industry so far. With just a few simple steps, without any middlemen, the developers can simply sign-in to the GDC Dashboard, complete the documentation formalities, push their games and integrate with help of the integration kit provided in the console itself. Revenue gets flowing in these developers wallets as soon as their game goes live on the platform. Developers have access to various live metrics like- revenue generated, game plays etc. of their game on the console where they can access anything anytime. This kind of transparency and data centric approach was definitely missing in this sector so far.
How is AI and ML assisting you in your gaming expedition?
We see ourselves as a Tech and Data driven company. All the decisions on the product are backed by data- from what games to be pushed to the users to what gaming format needs to be pushed. We are using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for personalization and game recommendations to our user for best user experience.
How important do you think is it for people to rely on technology? Are there any major follies per se?
The world is evolving, as humans we do need to adapt with the rest in this fast-paced environment. Knowing how to operate a mobile phone is as important as having a college degree these days. People do not participate in outdoor activities any longer nor do they socialize how it used to be decades back. For example, people of older age group who could not install an app on the phone – are now playing Tambola and Bingo on the phone.
Please elucidate a little on the nature of funding WinZO received.
KStart did our Seed in early 2018 and then Kalaari doubled its bet in WinZO by leading a $5 Million Series A in mid 2019.
Could you share some numbers and statistics with WinZo’s overall growth?
Its been a great and exciting journey for us. In the last 12 months we have already grown 10X in revenue and other metrics linked to it. We are already clocking 200 million microtransactions per month with more than 1.5 million bank accounts linked to our platform, 20% of these users are making their first media & entertainment payment online. The pandemic has taught us many new things.
We are looking to add 200+ more games by the end of 2020. We are not only looking to penetrate deeper in the country but also go international and scale the product in SEA by the end of 2020, growing at the comparable rate as last year. In context to the current surge due to lock down, WinZO is already witnessing a huge surge in the traffic on the social gaming platform. We are on the verge of touching our targets for 2020 seven months ahead.
Lastly, any words of advice for the wannapreneurs?
Work on it if you truly believe in something. It is better to live with an answer than the ambiguity of ‘what if’. Don’t forget, success does not come without failure and failure is the biggest teacher for one. Keep hustling until you accomplish what you stand for.