"India’s gaming market was worth $2.6 billion in FY 2022 and it will reach $8.6 billion by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 per cent. The central government recently also proposed draft rules that will help provide further impetus to India’s gaming industry," a press release by online gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) stated based on the India Mobile Gaming Report (IMGR) 2022 published by the platform. "Last year, India became the largest consumer of mobile games in the world, recording over 15 billion downloads, as per a report by Lumikai, a gaming-focused venture capital fund," the release added. Why does this matter: India's IT Ministry came out with proposed rules for online gaming companies earlier this month, which many of the top companies and industry bodies have welcomed. However, the rules have many issues, which we have explored here and here. The statistics in the MPL report shed light on how big and fast-growing this industry is, making it all the more necessary that the proposed rules ensure that gaming companies are not unnecessarily burdened and, more importantly, there are sufficient safeguards to protect users from harm. Which states have the highest number of mobile gamers? Uttar Pradesh: "In Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad and Allahabad have the highest share of gamers. 36% of the total gamers in UP hail from these cities. This is the second year in a row that Lucknow has earned recognition for its gaming prowess—last year’s IMGR revealed that growth in Lucknow…
