The online gaming industry is estimated to touch the $2.8 billion-mark by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 40 per cent after witnessing strong growth momentum in the pandemic times. According to a report by Deloitte, several factors such as younger demographics, increasing smartphone penetration, affordable data plans and rising number of rural consumers and women users coming into the gaming fold, among others, are fuelling the growth of this sector.

Time spent on gaming apps, increased by 21 per cent during the initial national lockdown, with the total customer base crossing 300 million users in the country.

India is one of the top five mobile gaming markets in the world, with 13 per cent share of global game sessions, and is expected to add nearly 40 million online gamers during 2020−22, the Deloitte report noted. Segments such as real money games, e-sports and fantasy sports are expected to witness strong double digit growth in this period.

High expectations

Jehil Thakkar, Partner, Deloitte India said, “Globally the video game industry is nearly four times the size of the box office revenues. In India the gaming industry is currently less than half of the box office collections. But now gaming industry is expected to narrow this gap. The gaming segment has attracted investments of about $450 million in the past few years and is expected to continue to attract more investments especially from international players.”

The report that lists out key trends in the media, technology and telecom space, also stated that by the end of 2021, multiple sports leagues globally will look at collection, use and commercialisation of players data.

This comes at a time when technologies such as computer vision, machine learning, advanced wireless connectivity, and wearable sensors are already transforming how athletes train, compete, and manage their careers, the report noted.

Thakkar said that leagues and players’ association across the globe are expected to work with broadcasters to use player’s data to look at new ways of fan engagements as well as new direct-revenue streams and marketing and sponsorship opportunities.

Technology solutions

The report also stated that accelerated adoption of technology solutions due to the pandemic and digitisation of healthcare infrastructure is also expected to pave the way for the next phase of healthcare service delivery through telehealth platforms.

“Telehealth platforms have the potential to enable the access to quality healthcare especially in the rural regions and could be a gamechanger. Medical tourism is already a significant segment of the healthcare industry. With digitization and telehealth becoming mainstream, there is a strong possibility that exports of healthcare through digital channels will emerge as a significant segment,” Thakkar added.

Some of the other key trends predicted in the report include acceleration in cloud adoption across government and public sectors and large, small and medium businesses.

“The year 2021 will be a watershed year for the cloud and data centre market in India. Deloitte predicts the growth of the cloud and co-location market at a CAGR of 30 per cent to reach $10.3−11.3 billion by 2023,” the report added.

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