India’s gaming industry exceeded a billion dollars in revenue for the first time in 2025, driven by mobile growth and a burgeoning player base, with future expansion focusing on monetisation and genre diversification.
India’s gaming market has moved past a symbolic threshold. In 2025, it generated $1.04 billion in revenue, according to Niko Partners, its first year above the $1 billion mark and a 14.8% increase on the previous year. The research firm expects the market to expand to nearly $1.2 billion in 2026 and reach $1.77 billion by 2030, implying an 11.2% compound annual growth rate over five years.
The more striking figure is the scale of the audience. Niko estimates that India had 511 million video game players in 2025, a number it expects to rise above 550 million in 2026 and pass 700 million by 2030. That means the industry is growing, but revenue is set to rise faster than the player base. In practical terms, the opportunity is shifting from simply adding users to extracting more value from those already playing.
Mobile remains the defining platform. Niko says about 95% of Indian gamers play on mobile devices, which keeps the market accessible to a far broader population than one dependent on consoles or high-end PCs. The demographic profile is also widening. Women accounted for about 40% of Indian gamers in 2025, up sharply from 22% in 2020, while around 60% of players had engaged with esports in some form, whether by playing, watching or entering tournaments.
Monetisation remains the harder test. Niko projects average revenue per user in India will rise from $2.04 in 2025 to $2.52 by 2030, still low by global standards but enough to signal room for expansion. The firm expects growth to come largely from continued mobile spending, along with a larger share of high and super-high spenders. That makes retention, engagement and payment conversion more important than download counts alone.
The market is also becoming less concentrated in one genre. Battle royale remains India’s largest category, but Niko expects casual titles and non-battle-royale games to gain ground over the next five years. That matters because a broader mix of genres usually supports a healthier commercial ecosystem, giving developers more room to build products for different audiences and spending patterns.
Capital is already following that shift. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting says roughly $2.8 billion flowed into India’s gaming sector in the five years to 2025, while companies raised more than $1 billion in 2024, up 25% from a year earlier. The ministry also points to substantial merger-and-acquisition activity, suggesting that investors are increasingly looking for businesses with proven revenue, not just promising concepts.
That distinction is visible in recent deal-making. Nazara Technologies agreed to buy Bluetile Games and BestPlay Systems for $303 million, taking full ownership of the businesses. Nazara said the companies generated ₹518 crore in revenue and ₹55 crore in EBITDA in the June 2026 quarter, underlining the appeal of established assets with measurable economics.
A similar logic is shaping newer forms of funding. Metasports Interactive, which runs Hitwicket, secured $20 million in non-dilutive user-acquisition financing from Metica to support international growth. The company says Hitwicket has more than 18 million users across 109 countries. That kind of financing fits a market where growth capital is increasingly tied to unit economics, and where Indian studios can build beyond domestic demand.
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