2022 really gA game changer in the Indian esports and gaming industry. Apart from strong growth across segments and cohorts, India showed the potential it has in esports, beating New Zealand to win bronze for her DOTA 2 esports title at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. . With esports being part of the official medal events of next year’s Asian Games and India participating in five different titles, expectations are high. , advertisers are certainly keeping an eye on it.
market high
According to FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment Report 2022, Indian online gaming segment is expected to reach Rs 153 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 15%, becoming the fourth largest segment in India’s M&E sector . , metaverse, esports. According to the latest data provided by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), India is currently home to over 430 million mobile gamers, and by 2025 that number will grow to 650 million. is estimated to increase to And the advertiser is logged in.
Aditya Pandit, Associate Director, Media – Carat India, believes that the possibilities for advertising today are endless as brands come together to demonstrate their presence in the world of gaming and the world of constant technological evolution. I point out that there is. “It’s no longer vanilla banners that brands can use to reach out to gamers. In-game ads, in-game integrations, live stream advertising opportunities, KOL tie-ups, and nth esports tournaments. There is an opportunity for physical integration into the level, and the game world has everything it has to offer, and the possibilities are ever-growing,” he says.
The ball is now firmly in the advertiser’s court, according to experts. Including but not limited to brands in various categories such as e-commerce, education, food, BFSI, consumer tech, automotive, telecom, FMCG. “So if the audience is here and you aren’t, you are already late,” he says Aditya Pandit.
According to Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and co-founder of TheSmallBigIdea, the growing cultural impact of gaming and esports, driven by greater reach, frequency and interactivity, is a display advertising opportunity for brands. “It is also a larger advertising option for brands. eSports is also evolving as a new entertainment vehicle in India. Advertising on this platform is a more immersive and long-term brand-building activity for brands.” With ever-evolving innovation and technology, gaming and esports are poised for bigger and better opportunities,” he said.
Rajan Navani, founder and CEO of JetSynthesys, said that, indeed, internationally, gaming and esports are already coming from some of the biggest brands in various sectors, including Red Bull, Pepsi, Intel, Monster and MTV. It is attracting interest and points out that the culture is pervasive.to india
“With the growth the sector has seen recently, I think it is only a matter of time before the roster of big brands expands further. This shows how advertisers are realizing that gaming companies have the potential to expand and reach diverse audiences in 10 years and it’s only going to get higher. is.”
event horizon
Another big factor is the federal government’s official recognition of esports as part of a “multi-sport event” on the eve of 2023. This means that the previous dissonance that existed in the perception of esports and gaming will become clearer and attract more participants. Advertiser. India’s inclusion in various international prestige sports tournaments only adds to this.
According to Lokesh Suji, director of the Indian esports federation and vice president of the Asian esports federation (AESF), 2023 will see more large-scale physical LAN tournaments across various esports titles. There will be many. “The difference between esports (sports) and iGaming (fantasy, fantasy, teenage patties, rummy, poker, online games, gambling, betting, etc.) is now slowly becoming clearer, so esports is the final You can expect it to come out on top as it is considered just like any other sport in our country.Our esports community is a unified voice to make India the next esports hub. It’s time to show the
Animesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of 8bit Creatives, added that this is a positive step forward for the 2024 Paris Olympics and supports the IOC’s efforts to push esports in the right direction. “Additionally to this, we have witnessed an increase in massive sponsorships from non-indigenous brands looking to capitalize on the esports industry. Gaming influencers have become a go-to source to interact.”
Our target demographic of gamers is digitally savvy and highly loyal. Combining this extremely dedicated fanbase with his ability to not only do branded plugins, but curate interesting material, Gamer will be his most popular influencer in 2023.
“Last but not least, in-game transactions, monetization, and transactions via blockchain and play-to-eating games, which are catching the attention of Indian gamers across all demographics, will also be a big part of the industry next year. It will play a major role in our rapid expansion,” adds Agarwal.
ready player
Piyush Kumar, Founder and CEO of Rooter, said that today’s gaming consumers are not only deeply involved in the games they play, but also the entire experience surrounding gaming (sharing and creating content with fellow gamers). , watching streams) are unique consumers. , are more likely to experiment with the latest trends and spend more on new categories, products, and experiences.
“They are often the primary ‘buying influencers’ within their circle of family and friends. All of this makes it an ideal audience for brands to build awareness, drive product usage/experience and ultimately drive sales. A growing number of unique and non-unique brands are already realizing the benefits of focusing on gaming platforms,” he says.
Looking ahead to 2023, Loco founder Anirudh Pandita expects brands, advertisers and publishers to invest heavily in advertising, not only through content and community initiatives, but also through inventory purchases. increase. “Whether it’s an advertiser move from radio to television and from traditional media to digital media, advertisers always follow the audience/attention agenda. The same applies to games. he says.
“With over 400mm of gamers in India and over 150mm engaged in esports content, esports and gaming are important communication channels for advertisers to reach and have meaningful conversations with their audiences. User engagement levels on these platforms act as an additional driver,” says Pandita.
Kumar says: Our brands His partners include H&M, Airtel, McDonalds, TVS, Flipkart, Spotify, Intel, ACT, HP, Amazon, Shopsy, Moj, BYJU’s, Unacademy, Prime Video, Mivi, Infinix, Wings, ICICI, Vodafone, Logitech, Philips. For us, we are focused on educating more brands and his partners on the benefits of investing in gaming and esports,” he said.
Pandita said Loco has over 55mm of registered users, and live stream viewers spend more than 60 minutes on the platform each day. “When such engagement becomes available at scale, the service will become very attractive to advertisers. It will only be further improved by catalysts like 5G.”
techin
Speaking of 5G, there’s also a plethora of new technologies, like the usual suspects like the Metaverse and NFTs to the new kids on the block like Web 3.0, all of which will be used in games. There was an old joke that all new technology would be adopted first by hospitality and adult entertainment, but gaming apparently became his third player in adopting this technology.
Rohit Agarwal, Founder and Director of Alpha Zegus, a marketing agency specializing in the gaming and lifestyle space, said: The spread of 5G will accelerate the mobile gaming industry. ”
“Growing numbers of games and users require diverse segments, campaign types, creatives, in-app events, and most importantly user experience. Big data analytics for performance optimization is therefore critical. Gaming app marketers need to meet this challenge by using external tools or developing in-house solutions to achieve their KPIs,” said Ritu Sharma, Country Manager, AppsFlyer India. says Mr.
“On the other hand, as consumer privacy continues to be actively leveraged, it will start to become a normal phenomenon as data usage restrictions are introduced on other platforms. It has become a strategic mission, and this trajectory will continue to accelerate in the years to come: Marketers will find alternatives to user-level data while seeking innovative ways to market, measure, and optimize their activities. We have to find a way, and to do that we need to consider metrics like overall cost per install or reinstall, or return on ad spend (ROAS),” she adds.
Combining all these factors with the fact that there will likely be more integration with traditional sports bodies/authorities, Pandita concludes: This allows us to attract even more advertisers!”
