India’s video gaming market is growing at an unprecedented pace. According to Niko Partners, India will have over 500 million gamers in 2025. Player spending is expected to cross $1 billion this year, which makes it the fastest-growing gaming market across Asia and MENA.
Mobile gaming drives this growth. Around 95 percent of Indian gamers play on smartphones. This makes India a predominantly mobile-first market. Mobile devices have made gaming accessible to a wider audience, not limited to metro cities or younger players. Women now make up about 40 percent of gamers, up from 22 percent in 2020. This shift shows that gaming is no longer seen as only for men or younger players. The increasing participation of women opens opportunities for games that appeal to a more inclusive audience.
Esports has also become an important part of the market. About 60 percent of gamers have played, watched, or competed in esports events. Battle Royale games remain the most popular genre. Around 40 percent of players say they will play Battle Royale titles multiple times in the next 12 months. The combination of competitive play and social interaction is keeping these games at the top.
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Monetization in India is improving rapidly. Roughly 26.5 percent of gamers, or about 126 million people, spend money on games. The growth of digital payment systems, especially UPI, has made in-game purchases easier. More players are comfortable spending on content and upgrades, making India an attractive market for developers.
Looking ahead, the Niko Partners report predicts that India’s player spending will reach $1.5 billion by 2028, and the total number of gamers could rise to 724 million by 2029. This would make India’s gamer population roughly equal to the current size of China’s. These numbers show that India is not just growing fast, but also has the potential to become one of the largest gaming markets globally.
Just recently, Xbox Cloud Gaming made its official debut in India. It allows players to stream console and PC‑level games directly on smartphones, PCs, smart TVs, and other devices. In parallel, GeForce NOW from NVIDIA is also in the process of coming to India. The service was expected to launch in November 2025, though recent reports suggest timelines have shifted slightly. Cloud streaming reduces the hardware burden, which has long been a bottleneck in India due to cost and variability in PC/console penetration.
However, success will still depend on how well companies adapt to India’s diversity. As Niko Partners notes, gamers in India are not a homogeneous group. There are vast differences in user behavior, device capability, payment comfort, and internet infrastructure across regions.
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Success in India, however, requires strategy. The market is diverse and regional preferences vary. Companies cannot rely on a one-size-fits-all approach. Niko Partners recommends starting with small experiments to understand gamer behavior before scaling. Mobile-first, localized games with live-ops features will perform best.
