Online Gaming Sees Growth Amid Lockdown Due to Coronavirus

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Pandemic coronavirus has left everyone with no option other than just being at home, quarantined, and passing time with the favorite indoor activities. The self-isolation to avoid COVID-19 infection has led people to revive their favorite hobbies such as dancing, singing, painting, cooking, etc. Something that has been a surprise during the lockdown is online gaming.

Already there were projections that the online gaming is very likely to see its surge in the regions like India. And now, as people are left with no choices but to entertain themselves indoors, the vertical is getting more popular. Earlier, a report from Google-KPMG projected that online gaming is speculated to be around $1.1 billion by 2021, which will give India around 628 million gamers. Interestingly, statistics say that already India has emerged as the largest market in gaming vertical, having nearly 3 billion annual users.

What’s happening in the online gaming world during a lockdown?

This is very unlike what’s happening in the other verticals across the globe. During the lockdown, India is seeing huge growth in the digital gaming industry as people are utilizing their smartphones to explore sources of entertainment. 

For the online gaming platforms, the lockdown period turns out to be a golden time as the industry is adding a high number of gaming enthusiasts every day. Games such as PUBG, Fortnite, Ludo King, etc. are receiving an immense response and even the iGaming industry is receiving decent traction. The online versions of card games such as Poker, Rummy, Teen Patti, etc. are now adding up even the offline players onto their platforms.

Various online gaming startup owners have affirmed that the time spent on online gaming platforms has increased manifolds during the lockdown. Earlier, the engagement on online gaming platforms was high between 8 pm till midnight, but now the scenario has changed and a high number of players are reported to be active throughout the day on most of the popular games available on online stores.  

Online game operators have also reported that the players are spending 70-80% more time on their platforms. The iGaming vertical is witnessing a new trend altogether as most of the rummy and poker players are getting users from newer regions.

What new efforts are made by the gaming startups during lockdown?

Startups in the online gaming business are coming up with innovative ways to engage the users for a greater number of hours. In a lockdown kind of scenario, Mobzway, one of the popular game development companies in India is allowing the operators to use its platform to set up online private rummy/poker clubs to engage with offline casino lovers. Such an initiative will allow offline poker or rummy players to come online and keep themselves entertained. Besides this, the online private clubs will give them more privacy and allow them to play the games with their fellow companions.

Also, many websites and apps are launching new tournaments these days to keep the players engaged for a longer tenure. Such platforms are also ensuring that the customer services are not impacted during this period since the engagement is very high. Even the platforms are offering free tournaments to keep user engagement high so that more people can easily stay indoors.  While on one end, the gaming industry is trying to engage more users and make staying indoors easy, the psychological reports are also stating that gaming is benefitting people and helping them stay positive during the lockdown. Since people get stressed by being inside their homes around the