Indian Game Studios Betting Big on Homegrown Titles

Game studios in India, long relegated to outsourcing and support roles, are now packing a punch with original intellectual properties (IPs) rooted in local themes.

- AJINKYA KAWALE

A growing willingness among players to pay for culturally resonant games, coupled with studios' ability to deliver locally relevant content, is pushing companies to bet big on homegrown titles.

Take the case of Pune-based SuperGaming's Indus Battle Royale. Since its launch last year, the game has clocked eight million installs with three million monthly active users. The IP is set to go global with about 15 million pre-listed users outside India alone.

"As a studio, the only way to earn money was servicing my customers worldwide. Now, there's an opportunity to cater to a local taste since the majority of people are wanting to pay for it. In the next two to three years, servicing a large local market in India will become a dominant theme," said Roby John, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), SuperGaming, a Pune-based gaming studio.

Having worked with global clients to develop titles, studios in India now see an opportunity to tap into India's vast local market, armed with a sharper sense of its cultural pulse and player preferences.