CIOInsider India Magazine
Kwalee to Invest $ 30 Million in India Operations
Kwalee, a UK-based game developer and publisher, plans to invest $30 million in its India operations over the next five years.
In May 2020, the Leamington Spa-based company will open its first overseas studio in Bengaluru, which will hire 50 staff, including game developers, graphic designers, and programmers.
The company intends to expand significantly and to hire new employees from various disciplines.
David Darling, founder and CEO, Kwalee, a gaming industry veteran, believes India will drive global growth in the video gaming industry, especially on the mobile platform. By downloads, India has already surpassed the US as Kwalee's largest market, with about five million monthly active players across its games.
Currently, the Indian team has worked on games like BladeBlade Forge 3D (which has over 20 million downloads), Teacher Simulator (which has over 25 million downloads), and Let's Be Cops 3D. (over 21 million). Members of the Kwalee Bengaluru team have also worked on upgrading classic games like Draw It (90 million downloads).
The rising popularity of video gaming in India is attracting more foreign investment. To be sure, India is one of the world's top five mobile gaming markets, accounting for 13 percent of global game sessions, and is projected to add 40 million online gamers between 2020 and 2022. According to Deloitte, the online gaming market in India is projected to reach $2.8 billion by 2022.
Due to the extreme growing popularity of casual gaming, advertisers now have the option of targeting an active audience through advertising on video games. Since in-app purchases in India are disproportionately low, advertisement becomes a cost-effective way for players to advance in the game. They would rather watch an advertisement in order to earn coins and advance to the next stage of the game. We discovered that such ad formats have a strong brand association Pokkt, a mobile video advertisement site, co-founded and CEO Rohit Sharma.
“We focus on hypercasual games that don't necessitate any skills or instructions. They can be played when commuting or during a brief break of around ten minutes. As a result, we're beginning to develop games for more advanced gamers who use computers and gaming consoles. "This demographic is able to pay for in-app purchases," Darling said.
Hypercasual games, unlike other game types, are simple to play, have a simple user interface, and can be downloaded for free. Hypercasual games like Candy Crush, Ludo, and Rummy have already captivated Indian audiences of all ages. Kwalee is capitalizing on the segment's rising success. Kwalee's current revenue comes mostly from in-app ads (90 percent), but the company is aiming to raise the percentage of in-app purchases.
“We focus on hypercasual games that don't necessitate any skills or instructions. They can be played when commuting or during a brief break of around ten minutes. As a result, we're beginning to develop games for more advanced gamers who use computers and gaming consoles. "This demographic is able to pay for in-app purchases," Darling said.
