India has the potential to create games for the world

Nitish Mittersain, CEO, Nazara Technologies, talks to Deepsekhar Choudhury and Tarunya Sanjay about Al in game design and the company’s experience going public. Edited excerpts

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Where is the Indian gaming and e-sports market heading? Where does Nazara fit into this picture?

India has long been a mobile-first gaming country, with over 500mn playing games on their phones, though access to PC and console gaming has been limited. While the country ranks among the top globally for app downloads, revenue generation from video gaming has lagged. India is still a low average revenue per user market compared to the West.

Real-money gaming is under regulatory uncertainty, which often leads global investors to conflate it with video gaming and view the entire sector with scepticism. Many struggle to differentiate between the two verticals, especially with concerns around high taxes and unclear regulations. However, a major opportunity lies in India’s potential to not just consume but also create games for the world.

Is AI showing signs of cost savings in gaming or has it made Indian developers more competitive?

Definitely. AI allows you to produce content in a much faster manner. In India, the big challenge for developers has been around game design and monetisation. I think AI can help improve that very quickly and bridge the experience gap between global and Indian developers. Everyone is starting to use AI, and I believe in the next one to three years, we'll start seeing Indian games performing well on the global stage. This is from an industry perspective.

How big is your global revenue compared to India revenue?