A confession: Last week, during a flight delay, I noticed something peculiar. The executive sitting across from me, who’d been reviewing financial reports, kept switching between his laptop and phone. Eventually, I caught him sneaking in a quick game of BGMI. ‘My son introduced me to this,’ he admitted with a laugh. ‘But honestly, I’m fascinated by how they monetize it – it’s free, yet I’ve spent more on it than my Netflix subscription.’
That moment crystallized something I’ve been observing recently. Gaming isn’t just our children’s domain anymore. It’s a $5 billion industry that’s creating unicorns and minting millionaires.
Yet most wealth creators still dismiss gaming as a frivolous distraction. They’re missing what might be India’s most underestimated investment opportunity.
Welcome to this week’s Create Wealth newsletter, where we decode how the gaming sector blew up and why gaming might be the smartest sector you’re not investing in, yet.
In this edition, we’ll cover:
- The $5 billion reality: How gaming became a serious business in India
- From cartridges to cloud: The evolution that created a new economy
- The business of ‘free’: How games make billions without charging a rupee
- E-sports athletes earning crores: The new sporting elite
- Investment opportunities: Where smart money is flowing in gaming
Let’s dive in.
The serious business of gaming
At $5 billion-plus in annual value, India’s online gaming industry has quietly become one of the country’s most dynamic economic engines, now over five times the size of Bollywood’s box office and growing faster than any other entertainment category.
But here’s what caught my attention: The country is currently home to over 70 crore gamers, positioning India to surpass China as the largest gaming population globally. Every second person in India is now a gamer.
The industry currently employs about 2 lakh people, directly or indirectly, and further has the potential to create an additional 2—3 lakh direct and indirect jobs in the next few years.
Gaming isn’t child’s play anymore. It’s serious business.
How gaming became a $5 billion-plus industry and where it is headed
In 1995, when Sony launched the PlayStation in India for ₹15,000, it was perceived as a rich kid’s toy. Retailers struggled to justify shelf space. Parents scoffed. Critics asked — who would spend this much to “waste time”? Fast forward three decades, and India’s online gaming industry is thriving.
And it’s still in the early innings.
But, how did we get here?
India’s gaming journey reads like a classic disruption story – one that wealth creators should recognize.
Over the years, the transformation has been staggering:
- Average data cost ₹250/GB (2015)→ ₹10/GB (2025)
- Entry-level gaming phone: ₹50,000 (2015) → ₹12,000 (2025)
- Average daily gaming time: 3 hours (2015) → 13 hours (2025)
Here’s a timeline with the major milestones the gaming industry has seen –
What led to the gaming boom in India?
India’s gaming boom is powered by multiple factors: access to the internet, the smartphone boom, and data affordability. Games optimized for touchscreens and designed to fit short attention spans completed the loop. Together, they transformed the mobile phone into India’s primary gaming device and unlocked a digital economy that now rivals the country’s biggest entertainment sectors.
What makes gaming powerful is not just interactivity. It is repeat engagement. Gaming is now the most immersive digital behaviour among Gen Z, overtaking social media in time spent. Unlike TV, it rewards skill. Unlike streaming, it is participatory. Indian gamers are more invested than ever, clocking an average of 13 hours a week.
And with every drop in friction in payment, device, or bandwidth, comes another wave of users. India’s gaming industry is scaling at a pace the world is beginning to notice.
Monetisation of the gaming industry
Gaming is merging with sports, music, film, and finance. Esports tournaments now feature rap battles and movie tie-ins. Game streaming overlaps with creator monetization. Virtual assets are bleeding into wallets and marketplaces. For platforms, this is about owning the next layer of attention across entertainment verticals.
First, let’s understand the different segments in the gaming industry –
As the industry matures, monetization models are crystallising around two dominant formats:
- Real Money Gaming (RMG) refers to revenue generated through online games where users make deposits, in cash or kind, with the expectation of monetary rewards. Games like Dream11, RummyCircle, and PokerBaazi fall into this category, where every play has financial stakes and outcomes are tied to skill or chance.
- Social and Casual Gaming, on the other hand, earns through in-app advertising, virtual item purchases, and subscriptions — formats that rely less on stakes, and more on engagement and scale. Think Ludo King, Candy Crush, or BGMI
Yet, in spite of this scale, monetization is still in its infancy. According to industry estimates, India’s average revenue per gamer (ARPU) stands at just $3, a fraction of developed markets like the US, where ARPU is at $215. This stark delta reflects the vast untapped monetization headroom, especially as paying users grow in number, and spending per user rises through microtransactions, battle passes, and brand integrations.
With ARPU expected to rise steadily over the next 3–5 years, the Indian gaming market is poised not only to scale in breadth but also deepen in value. And that is what will turn this from a high-engagement space into a high-margin one.
The economics of modern gaming
India’s gaming economy runs on a paradox: massive participation and modest monetisation. But that paradox is starting to break.
Globally, the economics of gaming have already outpaced music and film. In 2023, global gaming revenues hit $342 billion, projected to grow to $503 billion by 2028, according to PwC.
- Games like Grand Theft Auto V have earned more than any movie in box office history, generating $8.5 billion in lifetime revenue on a budget of just $265 million.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 returned 3.5x on its $540 million budget.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) crossed $1 billion in revenue within 10 days of launch.
India’s market, however, is structured differently. It is not console-led. It is free-to-play, mobile-first, and powered by psychology, not price tags.
Most Indian gamers pay nothing to play, and that is by design. Games like BGMI, COD Mobile, and Free Fire operate on a model where only a small fraction of users (often 1–2%) pay, but do so at high frequency. These users, known as whales, drive a disproportionate share of revenue.
Instead of one-time purchases, these games monetize through:
- Cosmetics (skins, character outfits, gun wraps)
- Battle passes
- Time skips and boosters
- Event-limited loot crates
Importantly, these add-ons do not confer gameplay advantages. They offer identity, exclusivity, and bragging rights. That makes them high-margin and recurring.
Gaming companies are monetizing time, behaviour, and context. Sponsored missions, branded in-game items, interactive ads, and embedded storefronts are turning gaming environments into high-conversion, full-funnel ecosystems.
What makes this powerful is how seamlessly it fits user behavior. Unlike ads on video or display, gaming monetization doesn’t interrupt; it rewards. Complete a level, and unlock an ad-free pass. Win a match, and earn credits toward real-world discounts. The lines between play and payment are blurring, and that’s by design.
This is also why brands are getting involved earlier. Beverage companies are sponsoring esports teams. Apparel brands are launching digital merchandise before physical drops. Streaming platforms are tying show launches to in-game rewards. Gaming is no longer downstream of pop culture. It is upstream of attention.
Another frontier is emerging: subscriptions. As telcos, OTT platforms, and gaming companies partner up, expect Gaming-as-a-Service (GaaS) models to take root, bundling cloud and mobile games into affordable monthly plans. This will not only raise ARPU but also widen access to premium titles without premium hardware.
In short, the economics of gaming aren’t just about selling to gamers. They are about monetizing what gamers already do and building the rails that others will ride on.
E-Sports – the new sporting elite
Here’s a conversation starter for your next dinner party: Professional gamers in India are earning more than many traditional athletes.
E‑sports in India has evolved from dorm-room matches into a professional powerhouse.
Just days ago, the BMPS (Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series) set a new benchmark with a ₹4 crore prize pool, the largest ever in Indian e-sports history. Meanwhile, Free Fire MAX is back with force; its upcoming India Cup will offer ₹1 crore, reactivating one of the country’s most fervent mobile gaming communities.
What was once tournament-driven is now being backed by institutions, from grassroots platforms to global sporting bodies.
Esports made its debut as a demonstration sport in the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2025, held in Bihar and New Delhi. Globally, e-sports is gaining formal recognition – it will debut as an official medal event at the 2026 Asian Games, with the inaugural Olympic Esports Games set to launch in 2027.
It’s an era-defining moment, signaling that competitive gaming now demands respect, infrastructure, and investment.
A new cadre of Indian talent is earning what was once unimaginable.
- Jonathan Gaming reportedly earns over ₹2 crore annually from team contracts, tournaments, and brand endorsements.
- Mortal, with close to 7 million YouTube subscribers, regularly streams to audiences far larger than televised sports events.
- Meanwhile, veterans like 8bit_Thug have secured multiple domestic and international titles and overseen championship-winning teams.
These players are no longer defined by the games they play. They are media businesses with large, monetisable communities.
In a country where cricket has long dominated imagination and investment, e-sports is quietly laying claim to the next generation’s ambition.
Investment options for wealth creators
So, how can sophisticated investors participate in the gaming revolution?
Public market options:
- India: Despite the scale of India’s gaming economy, listed equity exposure remains limited.
- International exposure: Global leaders like Tencent, Activision Blizzard, and Electronic Arts (EA) provide exposure to IP-rich, high-margin franchises. For diversified exposure, thematic ETFs such as ESPO, HERO, and NERD bundle top global gaming stocks into single instruments, tracking the broader momentum of the sector.
Private investment opportunities:
The private market is where most of the action is. In 2024, Indian gaming startups collectively raised over ₹8,500 crore (~$1 billion), a 25% YoY increase, underscoring growing institutional confidence in the sector. Investors are backing gaming as a foundational layer for the next generation of digital experiences. In many cases, the game is just the top layer; the monetisation stack is what is drawing capital.
Ancillary opportunities:
From high-performance hardware to creator tools and monetisation layers, the infrastructure around gaming is fast becoming a category in itself. Laptops, monitors, headsets, and gaming smartphones are now among the fastest-growing segments in premium electronics, driven by Gen Z demand and the rise of content-first gaming. India’s gaming peripherals market is projected to cross ₹4,500 crore by 2025, with sustained growth led by both competitive players and creators. Meanwhile, platforms that support game streaming, content clipping, fan monetisation, and community management are becoming the digital equivalents of back-end infrastructure.
In summary
Every few decades, a category forces us to redraw the map, not just of what people consume, but how culture, capital, and identity intersect. Gaming is that category now.
It’s where language fragments, attention concentrates, and careers emerge without a formal gatekeeper. It’s where creators become infrastructure, and competition becomes content.
You don’t have to believe in games to believe in gaming. This is no longer just entertainment. It is infrastructure for creators, platforms, and digital economies. A layer that sits beneath behaviour, not above it. The surface may look like play, but underneath, it’s distribution, payments, identity, and retention. That’s what makes it durable. And that’s what makes it investable.
As the lines between entertainment, sport, and technology continue to blur, gaming won’t sit on the sidelines of India’s digital economy.
Disclaimer – The information provided herein is intended solely for educational purposes. In this material, Dezerv has utilized information through publicly available sources, and other data deemed to be reliable. All trademarks, logos, and brand names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement or recommendation.