The latest report from Lumikai and Google has brought with it further insight into the current state of play for gaming in India, whilst also predicting figures for the next five years.

Currently, the Indian games market is on track for a $3.1 billion valuation in 2023 and mobile games account for $1.1 billion of that. Real money games are where the bulk of the remainder comes from at present, but with the announcement of a new 28% tax on real money games there is projected to be quite the blow to this category.

Even so, Lumikai and Google are expecting the value of the Indian video games market as a whole to more than double in the next five years, projecting a $7.5 billion valuation by 2028.

Full of potential

Leading the industry’s expected growth is mobile gaming, with casual games in particular due for a 26% year-on-year growth rate according to the report. This would mean a rise from $0.7 billion in 2023 to $2.3 billion in 2028 for casual mobile games alone.

Midcore and hardcore combined are set for even bigger growth - currently worth $0.4 billion and expected to reach $2.7 billion by 2028, meaning a huge 49% climb year-on-year. This would be in line with a trend already underway: a shift away from the hypercasual boom and towards more core gaming genres.

As for right now, players spending on in-game purchases is already on the rise; even excluding the big hitters like Garena Free Fire, the report notes a 37% rise from 2022 to $323 million, with the average playtime landing between 10 and 12 hours per week for gamers.

India currently has 568 million gamers and 25% of them are in-game spenders, meaning the region currently represents 140 million willing paying players. In terms of downloads, this means India is the second-largest market in the world, with its 15.4 billion yearly downloads following only China.

The full report included surveys on over 2,000 gamers in India.

Last month, Indian investors supported developer Funstop with a $1.5 million investment.