While sales of high-end Apple and Android devices are growing in the metros, non-metros are also witnessing a huge rise in usage of games based on movies, said a popular app developer.

“We have had over 65 million downloads to date and over 50 per cent of them have come from non-metros and smaller cities,” said Mr Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO, Indiagames Ltd.

Talking about the changing trend, he said that earlier downloads were primarily from the metros, but of late they have gone national because Nokia is available in smaller cities.

Mr Gondal, who said that his company witnesses around 5 lakh mobile downloads every day, said that this was primarily because of the focus on local content.

“Our top game is cricket and our second biggest game is based on the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Ra.One. Our game on Agneepath is also doing well,” he said.

While Indiagames has content on Android and Apple phones, Mr Gondal said that sales on these devices are not even 10 per cent of what he is witnessing on Nokia devices, principally because of the fact that most low-end Nokia phones, which cost less that Rs 5,000, can run apps based on the mobile edition of the Java platform.

The proliferation of many other low-cost mobiles from Nokia's competitors may have also played a role because most of them can also run mobile Java games and applications.

Most of the revenues that his company makes come from in-app ads, and when it comes to games based on movies, Mr Gondal said that the game is launched along with the movie.

And while the success of a movie obviously contributes to the success of the game, he said that they are not always linked.

> balaji.n@thehindu.co.in

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