Casual gaming comes of age

Mobile gaming is second to console gaming but it’s on a faster growth trajectory. By Pupul Dutta

For Sachin Kalathil (29), killing enemies and marshaling troops across difficult terrains the world over was like living a dream where he was transported into a virtual war field, thanks to Praetorians, a war game played on his laptop. Ditto was the case for Sunanda (21), who fought hard the need to let go of her breath while her Angry Birds were killing pigs on her Galaxy Tab.

Casual games are increasingly becoming popular with gamers across age groups. From SMS games to games on tablets and smartphones, people are hooked on to them. So far, the top category games for Indian mobile users are based on action, cricket and movies.

These games are cheap and sometimes free except for the data charges or the usage of operator services. Currently, single player casual games with simple rules dominate the Indian gaming domain. Racing and action games are very popular.

“There is an increase in the popularity of fairly complex gaming modules as well, which are not as simple as brick breaker or maybe racing ones. Another trend which is becoming popular is the increase in social gaming, which enables users to not only socially connect but also to play games while they are at it,” said Gurinder Singh Sandhu, Head Marketing, Tata Teleservices Limited.

Games on mobile phones are popular substantially due to the bustling mobile game developer market and the steady increase in the number of smartphone users. Smartphones offer a richer gaming experience hooking people faster and keeping them engrossed for longer.

Popular games

India is a booming market for all kinds of games, whether it’s for PC, handheld, console, casual or social games. With the advent of WiFi and the upgrades in mobile technology, mobile gaming has got a boost.

Millions of people play games ranging from farming to setting up a city on Facebook.  

Zynga, the company that develops games for the social networking major offers a string of games including FarmVille, CityVille, CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles, Words With Friends, Zynga Poker and more.  “India is following the global trend of a new type of casual game player. Social games offer fun, entertainment and enjoyable social interactions that are inspiring more people to play. With social games, you make a connection with your friends whenever you play and that connection is creating a new daily habit of play for more people here,” said Shan Kadavil, Country Manager, Zynga India.

With escalating demands of gamers, game and content developers are required to innovate constantly with advanced graphics and nail-biting storylines. Earlier, since the hardware available wasn’t powerful enough, many games were dumbed down versions of console/PC games. Today, with mobile processors becoming more sophisticated and the move to multi-core, this trend is changing. Newer games like Monster Madness, Riptide GP, Shadowgun and Guerrilla Bob THD, are topping the mobile gaming charts.

“Another trend that we see emerging is that tablets are evolving into gaming consoles with the ability to support game controllers. Some of the NVIDIA Tegra-powered devices such as the Acer Iconia Tab and the Asus Transformer Prime already come with this capability. This enables gamers to play motion control games on their tablets, giving them the choice of gaming on their tablet along with console support,” said Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director – South Asia, Nvidia.

Annie Mathew, Head of Alliances, Research in Motion, the company that manufactures BlackBerry smartphones, said, “Games that can be integrated with social networking sites are popular. The prime reason being that it is no more a gamer against a computer but a gamer against another human being. Hence, games that can be played via BB messenger or through Facebook are more in demand.”

Hangman, a popular game available on BlackBerry application store had seen 20 million downloads in a single year. The game continues to be popular among all segments of masses.

Another popular game is IPL fever. Cricket enthusiasts don’t just love watching IPL but also enjoy being a part of it. Mathew added, “An IPL game is as popular as the tournament itself.”

Trends in gaming technology

Earlier, games were mostly on J2ME. Now, native games offer better graphics, user interfaces and experiences on platforms like iOS and Android.

Raghuram Pattabiraman, Director – Transaction Business, AMD, said, “Technology will be the underlying strength for all future iterations of gaming graphics—be it PC, console, handheld, or even social gaming. We are focused on delivering innovative technologies, open standards and industry support that’s needed to help create the best possible gaming and graphics experience on the PC. With our new CPUs and GPUs, lifelike content can be delivered.”

Basically, all types of gaming require graphic-intensive processing which ensures a smoother and richer visual experiences, which are highly immersive. Times have changed from an earlier scenario where smartphones and tablets that were not primarily gaming devices acted as a tradeoff for users who had to put up with rapid battery drain.

“Now advanced mobile processor technology, such as the quad core architecture has enabled users to take advantage of console-like gaming performance without the usual concern of battery life taking a hit. We have even been able to show high-end PC games, such as Skyrim, streaming remotely from a PC to a Tegra tablet. Tegra has seen widespread adoption in tablets and smartphones from major manufacturers, who recognize gaming as a key driver for sales,” explained Dhupar of Nvidia, the company that manufactures processors suited for high end gaming.

Lately, most game developers have moved on to Android and iOS. The Android Marketplace (now renamed as Google Play) and Apple’s App Store offer opportunities for creative game developers to directly reach out to customers.  

“Java-enabled handsets still form the largest available installed platform. However, new gaming platforms are emerging, which allow more sophisticated and connected games to be built and these are encouraging a new genre of games,” said Arun Tanksali, Head, Mobile Lifestyle Solutions, Comviva.

RIM will soon launch its latest operating system BB10 and this will further boost the gaming experience. Mathew said, “BB10 will provide a breakaway platform for game developers as, not only would the user experience be enhanced, but there would be better tools available for the developers.”

She said that the future of gaming would lie in family entertainment, wherein families would connect their handsets to their television sets and play games on their respective cellphones. “With BB10, games can be developed on C, C++, HTML etc. It is also Flash-enabled,” she added.

To sum it up, the technology used for games is singularly dependent on the handset ecosystem. Therefore, Symbian was predominant for a very long time with Java-based gaming ruling the roost. However, with Android and iOS accounting for a bigger chunk of smartphone sales, these platforms have become more attractive for game developers, especially with their popular app stores.

What’s next

3D is likely to be the next big step for game developers. There are a few games that are already available on 3D platforms; more can be expected by end 2012.

“This year will see the maturing of 3D gaming. Also, GPS and location-centric games would evolve as well,” said Mathew of RIM.

Mahip Vyas, Country Head, mig33, concurred, “Mobile Gaming will be driven by technology including faster processors, faster response time, 3D graphics and advanced sound capabilities.”

Zynga on the other hand is focused on a few key areas including gaming engines, data and analytics, Cloud computing and the open Web. “All of these areas in tandem are enabling our games to be of the highest quality and help us offer the best playing experience across the globe,” said Kadavil.

Games are expected to be co-opted by other sectors wherein verticals like education would participate in creating interactive games to deliver learning etc.

Indian market opportunities

According to industry estimates, every month India sees about 6-7 million game downloads on the mobile phone. Moreover, with value added service providers dropping the prices of games to Rs. 30-40, everyone with a cellphone is now seen as a potential gamer in India.

Experts see this market growing dramatically in the coming years. A recent Nasscom report has estimated the size of the Indian gaming industry at $800 million by end 2012. Also, with broadband PC penetration increasing, online gaming is also reaching a critical mass.

Rohan Kumar, CMO, Play Up, estimated that the Indian animation industry would grow at a CAGR of 22% and the gaming industry at 49% by end 2012. “Over the years, the animation and gaming industry has seen the entry of many global majors who have tapped into India’s talent pool for offshore delivery of services,” he said. “We are expecting about $2 billion in revenue this year,” he added.

RIM’s Mathew believed India to be a volcano of growth. “The growth of smartphones is the most beneficial thing for any game developer. With feature-rich phones, the power of a PC is now in the hands of a common man,” she said.

However, compared to the global market, the Indian market is still small. Affordability and demographics play an important role in this. With changing device capabilities and innovative payment options, we are seeing a rise in the uptake of these services. Offline access to games and consumption of demo versions is high and lack of direct payment options prevent the conversion of many of these players into paying gamers.

Challenges

The biggest challenge so far is that the technology is growing rapidly while people are still trying to come to terms with existing offerings. The quality of gaming content is another hurdle. In an industry overloaded with developers and games, it is quality content that will be the differentiator and that is what every gaming company strives for.

The industry faces the challenge of educating data customers and bringing them on board. Separately, ease of discovery continues to be a huge deterrent too; with consumers finding it difficult to locate games. Also, despite data compatible handsets, a sizable proportion of subscribers do not use data; simply because they do not know how to.

Future

According to a report released by FICCI and KPMG, the Indian gaming industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 31% to Rs. 38.3 billion by 2015. Within this segment, console gaming is the largest contributor to the Indian gaming industry’s revenues, generating about Rs. 5.8 billion in 2010 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 20% to reach Rs. 14.2 billion by 2015.

Next is the mobile gaming market, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 45% to reach Rs. 17.4 billion by 2015. With the advent of 3G which is expected to further enhance the user experience by easing the congestion of mobile networks, the overall mobile gaming experience is only going to get better.

The last segment of the gaming pie is PC and online gaming, which is being driven by the rising penetration of the Internet in India. This slice of the pie currently accounts for 15% of the overall gaming market at Rs. 1.5 billion and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 35% to reach Rs. 6.7 billion by 2015.

The spread of data-enabled smartphones, fast telecom networks and cheap data plans, some of which offer special rates for users who want to use their phones for social networks will be the biggest drivers for mobile social gaming. A shift in consumer behavior towards mobile gaming as a source of leisure will also contribute towards the development of the mobile gaming industry.

Going forward online gaming, multiplayer games, pay-as-you-play and in–game purchases will all play a significant role in shaping the future of the gaming industry in India.

pupul.dutta@expressindia.com