OTT platforms

How has India become a global gaming hub & why Indians are much interested in OTT platform games?

Have you seen the new Gaming Feature on Netflix yet? OTT platforms are increasingly witnessing a huge demand for gaming-related content on their sites. This has led to the emergence of gaming companies. Some OTTs the chance to bring casual games to their viewers.  Some experts predict that the OTT market will reach more than $332 billion by 2025.  One of the best examples of this is the rise of OTT gaming, which presents unique opportunities for publishers. The OTT market is only growing by the year, so there is no doubt that gaming console companies will continue providing support for these services on their devices.

E-sports, fantasy sports, and skill gaming:

Indian people have become much more fantasy with some form of online gaming, be it e-sports, fantasy sports, or skill gaming. The first is e-sports. These are video games, that were played privately or on consoles in video game shops but are now played on OTT platforms. e-sports industry predicted to hit Rs. 80.73 billion by 2020 globally. Fantasy sports allow users to select and pitch their favorite players against each other in league-style matches. Skill games, in particular, have been proven to provide fair competition and the excitement of winning against applied knowledge and skill. A game of chance may be considered gambling if players wager money or anything of monetary value.

Indian viewers demanding more games on OTT:

India has seen an impressive rise in the adoption and growth of social games, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since people stayed at home and had more time on their hands, the pandemic ensured the rapid growth of the e-entertainment industry. According to some studies India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the world. There have been 7.3 billion OTT game downloads in India, which is around 17% of the global total.

Amazon’s video game-focused live streaming platform. More than 7 million people log onto the website each day to interact with their favorite gaming content.  Online games based on the traditional Ludo, arguably the most popular online gaming in India, have run into controversy, and allegations of betting and gambling.

The rise of OTT gaming has been very beneficial to publishers. This is because putting games on the OTT platform offers several key benefits that can help your games perform better than they would elsewhere. Many OTT devices are also perfect for gaming integration. India’s gaming market is set to reach $7 billion in FY26, which is more than three times the market in FY21.

Nakul Kapur, Head of International Business and Games at MX Player said that Audiences these days prefer everything entertainment integrated into one place, and gaming is certainly the next most sought-after feature that will be integrated into OTT platforms. OTT platforms don’t increase the app size. This is the main reason for the adoption of games by OTT platforms. Recently, Netflix, too, experimented with gaming on its platform.

Today, gaming is another such sunrise sector with immense potential. Gaming Authority at the central government should be created self-regulation is encouraged for the industry. It made responsible for the online gaming industry, monitoring its operations, preventing societal issues, suitably classifying games of skill or chance, overseeing consumer protection, and combatting illegality and crime.