India has proven itself as a formidable market in the online gaming industry in recent years. Its reputation continues to be upheld with more growth being reported in 2024. All told, the industry experienced a 23 percent year-over-year increase while the Indian government imposed a 28 percent goods and service tax (GST). Though the tax might trigger concerns of slow growth, that might not seem like the case in the next five years.
We will discuss India’s online gaming growth in more detail and how the GST won’t affect it moving forward. Let’s discuss more on the details of India’s gaming market and more.
How Could The GST Affect Online Gaming in India?
India imposed a 28 percent GST in the online gaming sector – which was an amendment of a GST legislation issued in 2017. With this tax imposed, the concern for whether growth will be stifled has increased. What the tax applies to is the value of each bet that is made on online gaming platforms other than the revenue that the platform makes itself. The intent of the tax may be advantageous to the government due to the growing number of people signing up for online platforms.
Yet, critics of the GST may state that this may discourage user participation and new entrants into the platforms. Despite this, it may not stop new players from signing up and taking advantage of the top 3 welcome bonuses offered to Indian players. In other words, the implementation of the GST may be testing the market’s resiliency – despite the fact that 20 to 30 million Indian gamers consist of five percent of the global gamer base, which is estimated around 590 million.
As such, the growth will continue due to several factors. These include the increased affordability in both mobile technology and internet access. Not to be outdone, young Indians are also seeing disposable income rise and may see an opportunity to use the extra money to their advantage. Nonetheless, the GST could take an amount of total revenue from the platforms but the government might earn revenue in its own right and more as the user base increases.
The fear of stifled growth might taper off in the long run. As such, it will pave the way for the industry to potentially exceed its market value by 2029 when it is forecasted to be valued at or above $9.2 billion.
What Has Brought Forth Revenue To Real-Money Gaming?
Real-money gaming (RMG) is one of the main reasons why India’s gaming industry is growing in popularity and will remain so in the foreseeable years. Examples of RMG include poker, sports betting, and online casino games among others. Many partake in skill-based games that will allow them to implement strategies to increase their advantage. For example, there are many new to the game of blackjack that might rely on strategy charts so they know when to hit, stand, or double down.
Another revenue driver is in-app purchasing, which entails numerous items like skins, power-ups, extras packages, and much more. These typically apply mostly to non-gambling gaming platforms and apps. As such, players that want upgrades from the basics are willing to pay a nominal amount of money while it generates income for the operators.
Gaming as a Pillar of The Indian Media Market
Currently, the media market of India is a dominant force with its overall value estimated at approximately $12.5 billion. 30 percent of its market consists of the gaming industry. Of course, this part of the media market in particular will continue to grow in the foreseeable future with the overall value of the media market as a whole increasing as well. At the same time, the immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are both looking to become fully adopted in the gaming platforms – which can be major driving forces of new growth.
With this in mind, the lines between traditional media and interactive entertainment might appear to be more blurred. Many Indians will begin to see more entertainment options than ever before using mobile devices or even their VR headsets. As a result, the sale of mobile and VR devices could increase after many people see the value and overall improvement of the platforms offered by the gaming industry.
Final Thoughts
India’s online gaming market doesn’t appear to slow down anytime soon. While the GST will be useful for the government to acquire more revenue, it has done little to nothing to curtail the growth of online gaming in India. Not only that, more players will jump on these platforms to play their games. The Indian Government may not raise the GST seeing that there may be an increase in users on gaming platforms.
In the meantime, India’s online gaming market will be fun to watch. Especially when it has already gained the reputation as one of the top markets in the world.