The Pandemic Push and the Rise of the Indian Gaming Industry
According to TMT predictions of Deloitte, India is among the top five mobile gaming markets worldwide, accounting for 13% of the worldwide game market. About 65 percent of India's population (1.3 billion) is under the age of 35. India's median age is only 29, which is fairly young compared to China (37) and Japan (48) and provides a substantial market base for gaming companies in India. The pandemic accelerated the onboarding into gaming platforms and increasingly, people from rural areas and women were also entering the gaming market, turning the core demographics of the gaming industry.
The gaming industry in India is expected to grow much faster (at a CAGR of 40%) than the gaming industry around the world (at a CAGR of 9%). India had the most mobile game apps downloaded in 2019, with 5.6 billion. This is the most of any country in the world. One key trend is that more and more people want games like poker and rummy to be legalised as games of skill. Also, games with an Indian theme are more fun to play and would be more popular in rural areas if they had an Indian theme.
Gaming Platforms are Bringing Millions of Gamers to Web3
Glip, an India-based venture with a global web3 game discovery and wallet application, raised $2.5 million in a fundraising round spearheaded by Hashed Emergent with participation from Beenext and current investor Prime Venture Partners, intending to bring millions of gamers to web3.
According to Tak Lee, Managing Partner of Hashed Emergent, the gaming industry will be instrumental in bringing the next billion users to Web3. There are currently two primary obstacles in Web3 gaming: the absence of distribution channels and the complexity of user onboarding. The team at Glip has made a platform that works well for both, which is why Hashed Emergent is excited to work with them. In addition, Glip continues to sign web3 games such as Axie Infinity, League of Kingdoms, and KOF Arena by Netmarble to increase user registration and engagement.
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Why India is a Demographically Important Region for DeFi and GameFi
India is a significant region for the development of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Over the years, several local exchanges such as CoinDCX, Zebpay etc have achieved great success in India. Over 2 million users actively use the Glip platform today. Despite having an Indian base, the team serves a worldwide clientele. Glip has raised $6 million in various fundraising rounds. Prime Venture Partners, Better Capital, iSeed, and a number of angel investors took part in its Seed A round. By onboarding 1 million players within the project's first three months, it experienced good success right away.
Over 7 million people have downloaded its smartphone app in Brazil, India, and Southeast Asia.
Ishan Shrivastava, Glip's chief operating officer and founder, stated that the company has a pipeline of more than 100 games from leading publishers worldwide and will soon have a self-service dashboard to run campaigns, obtain user feedback, and do analytics.
What Is Glip?
Glip, the most popular web3 gaming app in India, is expanding quickly. High school gaming buddies and second-time founders Parth and Ishan founded it amid the first Covid lockdown in 2020. Since then, the company has undergone a series of quick transitions. Players can find new web3 games in one app, follow tutorials, and participate in competitions and quests. When they log into the app, they receive a social login, non-custodial, multi-chain, gasless wallet.
According to Parth Choudhary, CEO and founder of Glip, their objective is to become the largest web3 gaming platform in the world. With a gaming community expanding organically and collaborations with web3 games, Glip is set to become a dominant player.
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Image credits: Florian Olivo and Onur Binay.