India - It’s happening, finally!Rajesh Rao

Founder & CEO, Dhruva Interactive

Chair, Nasscom Gaming Forum

Pocket Gamer Connects, Helsinki, 17th June 2014

Quick Introduction

Founded India’s first games company in 1997.17 years on, Dhruva is India’s biggest developer with 300+ people in mobile/social/console

Founder of India’s first incubator for games start-ups

Chairperson of the Nasscom Gaming Forum, the trade body of the Indian games industry

Market

600 million Indians

are below 25yrs of age

Gaming

is taking off

everywhere

India is beginning to play…

Gaming is riding the Mobile Revolution…

850m mobile installed base in India

Smartphones: It took 8 years to add 80m (end 2013), will add 100m in 2014.

High speed data: 3G: 75m now, 300m by 2016 ( many smartphones are on 2.5g)

Disruptive 4G launch in 2015 will result in cheaper 3G, the momentum will result in overall data subs reaching

600m by 2016

81% smartphone users play games

Dominated by Android, Windows and Apple distant 2nd and 3rd.

We just need to crack payment…..

Challenges:

- India is a cash market. Mobile is almost entirely pre-paid- Carrier rev shares have been awful (but this is changing)- Low penetration and use of plastic (currently 300m debit, 20m credit cards)

Some expected game changers:

- Google Play with carrier billing- Reduction of In-app purchase threshold from Rs.55 to Rs.10 or less- Mobile payment systems like IMPS- Massive push by e-com players to promote use of plastic

India’s mobile games market, under $100m currently, is way below its potential

Bollywood games are doing great downloads……

1m downloads in 7 days10m downloads (all platforms)

On avg, hits are doing $100k ~ $200k in rev, without F2P kicking in

… and international hits are doing well too

Top 10 ( downloads) on Google Play and iOS include Candy Crush Saga, Subway Surfers, Temple Run, Dr. Driving

FIFA and NFS make more money on mobile than console in India

Compelling Content that ‘connects’ is key

• All mainstream Indian entertainment (Movies, TV, Music) are dominated by Indian content. Gaming will not be different.

• Semi-urban and rural audiences are taking to mobile content in a big way. ‘Local’ cultural and social context will play a big role.

• Games in education has great potential, Indian Govt pushing low cost tables to transform free primary education (Aakash tablet)

Developer Ecosystem

Exponential rise in Game developers in India

1 1 2 3 3 3 4 5 7 1015

2025

40

100

130

175

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20

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60

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120

140

160

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1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Over 100 indie start-ups in the last 2 years

• 6 city chapters with quarterly meetups

• A ‘must attend’ conference … 2013 had 1300 attendees

• A very active FB group with 5000+ members

• Reports and whitepapers on the Indian games industry

• Lobby with the government to get the sector the support it needs

We now have an active trade body…

Mission:

To support and nurture the growing ecosystem of Game Developers in India

And an awesome annual conference….

• 1300 attended NGDC 2013• 50+ speakers• Workshops, mentoring sessions• Game Developer Awards• Indie games showcase

Keynotes and Speakers over the years:

Yochi Wada, Chairman, Square EnixPaolo Pedercini, MolleindustriaTrip HawkinsGlen Schofield, SledghammerEd Fries, former head of Microsoft Game StudiosMark Skaggs (creator of Farmville)Ernest Adams, veteran game designerMagnus "Gordon" Gardebäck , SimogoStéphane D’Astous, ex-GM, Eidos-Montreal

NGDC 2014will be held in Pune, INDIA

13-15 Nov 2014

There’s support for early stage start-ups

Dedicated Incubator for gaming start-ups

$800k seed fund focused on games, Targeting 6~8 investments in 2014

Some Series A, M&A

• GSN Games acquired Bangalore based Bash Gaming (makers of Bingo Bash) for $160m

• Sequoia (India) invests $15m Series A in Octro, maker of popular Indian games like Teen Patti (like Poker) and Indian Rummy. They currently have 2m DAUs

Thank You!

You can reach me at:

rao@dhruva.com