A new report by marketing intelligence firm MoEngage has predicted that the Indian mobile gaming market will hit an $8.6bn valuation by the end of 2027.
The report, produced in collaboration with firms AppsFlyer and AppTweak is based on studies of more than a hundred brands that are customers of these companies. With the current market valued at only around $2.6bn this predicted growth represents a substantial uptick.
In the report itself we see a number of trends emerge, one being the popularity of social casino games and hypercasual compared to casual. Although the data is restricted to AppsFlyer customers, it indicates that although social casino and casual titles were roughly equal at their peaks in early to-mid 2021 during the Covid pandemic, casual dropped sharply in installs and has yet to recover.
The trend is followed by revenue, as although revenue has shifted for all three genres, social casino and hypercasual titles have continued to rise while casual has slumped considerably in revenue, according to this report. It echoes AppsFlyer’s own findings earlier this year which saw a 32% increase in installs for hypercasual.
Potential in India
While AppsFlyer and AppTweak customers in India may only represent a relatively small part of the growing Indian market, which is predicted to hit at least 630m mobile and PC players by 2026, it still echoes many other trends we’ve witnessed. That being the popularity of real money gaming and more casual genres. However, outside of this limited range we’ve seen that more “hardcore” titles such as BGMI can see major success in the region, suggesting a split in audience between demographic and genre preference.
AppsFlyer’s director of business in India, Oothria Raj, commented, “We are effectively in the golden age when it comes to mobile gaming. This industry has become more and more popular at an unprecedented rate. Additionally, the overall baseline of usage has seen a significant spike, even as the post-pandemic ‘new normal’ emerged.
“While this is a highly responsive market, breaking the glass ceiling in this segment comes with its own set of challenges. We hope that mobile gaming brands are able to take stock of these challenges through this report and can use some of the actionable insights mentioned to their advantage.”
