India catches the gaming bug

20 January, 2009, 13:19

Although computer games far are more popular in Europe and America, the gaming industry is making moves to get a foothold in the Indian market.

By moving manufacturing as well as research & development to India, Western gaming companies are hoping to generate local demand for their wares.

Apart from the lower costs of production and talented engineers, the country offers fresh ideas, a distinct advantage in this creative field.

“It’s really good to be able to find people that are enthusiastic about games -in the West in certain companies the people are a little jaded,” said Colin McLaughlam, the vice president technical of ‘Lakshya Digital’. “But here because we are getting people with their fist exposure to the game development industry, they're really enthusiastic about it.”

Still in its infancy, India’s gaming sector is aimed at the international market; the domestic market is still tiny. Still, experts say that this is very likely to change in the near future.

“Once this gaming mindset starts in India, India is going to be a huge market,” said Vinay Vikram Singh, art director of ‘Lakshya Digital’. “I would say it will become as big as the European or US market, simply because of the numbers.”

Industry experts say demand is already outstripping supply domestically.

“I think there is a huge demand in the gaming industry coming in,” said Mohit Suri, the managing director of ‘Picasso Studio’. “But again, when you look into the gaming studios there is a huge shortfall of gaming studios in India at this point of time.”

Eager to educate as well as to entertain, the industry is introducing new gaming products.

“Earlier it was looked only as an entertainment segment but now it is more like ‘edutainment’,” Ramesh Kansan said, the vice president of ‘Picasso Studio’.