Desi card games rule the digital gaming industry in India

Indian games industry has come of age. Earlier, most game developers developed games for the US and European markets and later brought them to India. It no longer works that way!

Traditional Indian games are now redefining the digital games industry in India. In fact, Indian game developers are dominating the gaming segment with their local offerings. By introducing popular games like Rummy and free to play Teen Patti to the digital games world, Indian gaming companies are building a connect with the common man.

Bhavin Pandya, CEO, Play Games 24x7 says, “Our approach is embedded in our belief that people like playing games they grew up playing. Localization is the key to success in India and user trends have confirmed the same. We are focusing heavily on the localization of games and technologies with a user-friendly interface. We have also made our games available in multiple vernacular languages.”

Play Games 24X7 launched Rummy on RummyCircle and Teen Patti, Rummy and Poker under Ultimate Games banner, and has recorded a cumulative 5 million downloads for all the games put together.

Harshal Vaidya, an IT professional from Pune swears by his favourite mobile card game. He says, “I have fond memories of playing Rummy with my friends and cousins, especially on festivals and get-togethers. But over the years, we all got busy with our hectic work and family lives. With the new mobile card game apps, I now enjoy my favourite card games anytime, anywhere whether I am traveling to work or unwinding on a Sunday afternoon.”

According to a global research firm, India will exceed 200 million smartphone users, topping the US as the world's second largest smartphone market by 2016 due to increasing penetration of affordable smart mobile devices in the country.

With the increase in the number of smartphones and tablets in India, mobiles will be among the most important platforms in games, garnering a 54 percent share of the total Indian games market by 2020.

This is all changing now as the Indian games industry is on the cusp of major transformation. Economic growth has resulted in a society that is embracing digital content and entertainment like never before. On average, users are spending 11 minutes per day on mobile games which is expected to grow rapidly in the near future.

Moreover, it is expected that games launched in vernacular languages would further drive exponential growth of mobile games by dedicated focus from game developers and publishers.

It is estimated that increase in local language content will lead to a growth of 39% in internet user base, with rural India being the primary driver of this growth (75%) while urban India will grow at 16%. Mobile Gaming market in India is expected to reach INR 18.5 Billion in 2017.

As per industry experts, India will continue to be one of the fastest growing gaming markets in the world, due to various factors such as the easy access to budget smartphones, increased mobile internet usage, increase in usage of tablets, and of course, growing number of traditional gaming apps.