In a special report for the CalvinAyre.com digital and mobile content specialist Jaison Joseph last week wrote about how the nation of India, the 18th largest market in the world for online gaming in terms of revenue, is proving welcoming to the online version of Rummy.
Rapidly growing, more than half of the gaming development companies in the subcontinent were incorporated within the last four. In fact Joseph calls 2012 the “dawn of game development” in India.
A report from Nasscom says that 95 percent of the games developed in India are mobile games and 30 percent are social and online games. Eight percent of the total games developed are casino-based, such as Online Rummy, Teen Patti and Poker.
Studies by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) estimate that there will be 503 million internet users by next year. At the moment only 19 percent of the population has access to the internet, but that is changing rapidly due to the proliferation of Smartphones to many rural areas. India is the fastest growing Smartphone market in the world, which also makes it a ripe market for mobile online games.
At the same time 17 million PCs are sold in the country every year.
Rummy is already familiar to many parts of the country. According to Joseph, “The online counterpart of rummy offers a hassle free gaming experience compared to traditional rummy. Players are now able to log in from any location at anytime and play the game.”
Online card game sites in Indian are almost without exception compatible with mobile platforms. They can be played even with a 2G connection and gaming development companies are working to adapt to slow internet connections to offer a perfect gaming platform.
Beginning in 2011 there was a dramatic increase in Facebook users in India, which brought along millions into the online gaming industry.
Joseph cites studies to argue that the gaming industry will cause India to pass the U.S. as the second largest gaming market in the world.
