Ajay Khanna, Country Manager for EA in India, during the panel focusing on multinationals in India said that it’s not viable to do large scale local games in India yet – “85 percent of entertainment consumption in India is localized, but the medium term local games market is too small to support large scale investments”. So we’ll make a Need For Speed Mumbai. He dispelled the myth that legal gamers are 15-25 years old; Yes, people the TG for games is essentially 15-25, but those who buy the games legally are between 25-29 years old. College students buy pirated games. Working professionals dont want to be stuck with corrupt games or bad disks, so they buy the original. Still, India remains a high volume, low margin market. Most of the gaming companies do pricing based on gut-feel or cost-structure, not on the basis of consumers. The price of games isn’t high in India; if you do a per capita income comparison and adjust for purchasing power parity, then the price of a game that is $60 in the US should be Rs. 1760 ($44) in India.
What does it take to translate animation challenge to game development?
The critical factor is game experience. In the short run, talent will have to come from overseas. A train the trainer concept might help game studios develop the local gaming industry and put enough pcs and consoles in the hands of people.
What are the key learnings from the last couple of years for development of India as a gaming and animation business?
Scalability is critical. Canada and Eastern Europe are providing cost arbitrage, and if you want 20-40 people studios,you can go there. But India’s the destination for 100+ people game studios. However, the way the Indian rupee is going, the only way you’d be able to run a business efficiently would be to automate some parts of the cycle.
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