Fakhar Zaman’s hurricane innings against New Zealand, Rachin Ravindra and Quinton de Kock’s multiple centuries, Mohammed Shami’s fierce bowling, Afghanistan threatening top teams for a semi-final berth, and Sri Lanka getting rattled for 55 – all these events seem like they were played out on a video game with cheat codes on.
Still, the Glenn Maxwell show at Wankhede Stadium would probably not be possible even with those cheat codes.
Fortunately, and surprisingly, they are all real. But fans spending their time in front of TV sets or mobile screens at home are trying to recreate the events or be actively involved in the sport and using online games to do this.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Revenues of the online gaming industry grew 35 percent from 101 billion (in 2021) to 135 billion (in 2022). The revenues are further expected to grow by 24 percent to 167 billion towards the end of 2023, EY and FICCI’s ‘Windows of Opportunity’ report estimates.
The ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup is suggested to be acting as a significant catalyst for the gaming industry. Ahsan Qizalbash, an active gamer from Pakistan explained how events such as World Cup excite more people to play such mobile games.
“India and Pakistan people are crazy about cricket. Let’s include Bangladesh as well. Games like Hitwicket have a specific event related to the World Cup. So people enjoy it more that way. I feel if the football World Cup is nearby, people will start playing football games,” says Ahsan.
Ahsan used to play games like Ludo Star earlier but was bored of online games. His nephew then introduced him to Hitwicket – a first-of-its-kind strategy-based cricketing mobile game allowing gamers to act as manager and captain of the team simultaneously – in March 2023.
Ahsan also participated in gaming tournaments and was runner-up at a tournament Hitwicket organized earlier in June – July 2023.
Hitwicket co-founder Kashyap Reddy also explained how events like the World Cup have boosted online games.
“Suddenly cricket is in the air, and everyone is thinking about cricket. The great thing is when you are seeing a match, as a spectator, you start thinking ‘I also want to do something’. So you try to download a cricket game and emulate it. That heightens downloads during the cricket season. And right after the tournament ends, when there is a complete vacuum and people are craving for content, you see a spike as well,” says Reddy.
Reddy also shared some interesting insights with News 18 CricketNext. “There has been a 15 percent month-on-month increase in the number of downloads [since the start of 2023]. But we have seen a spike of around 23 percent and this is increasing this month [October 2023].”
The FICCI – EY Report also mentions that online gamers have grown 8 percent in 2022 (from 390 million in 2021 to 421 million in 2022).
Moreover, these gamers are comfortable spending real money on their gaming experience. While 39% of respondents were comfortable with paying to play real money games, 50% of respondents were willing to pay to play fantasy sport according to an EY survey done in 2022.
Reddy explained that while gaming is largely free, people are willing to spend on the experience.
“Entertainment is something that everybody wants and great thing about mobile gaming is that it gives you world class content for free. You have to spend only when you want some premium stuff.
“People want to spend on experience. We have always had this culture. Like people spending on OTT apps to watch a movie or a cricket match. If you are getting entertained, you don’t mind spending on it,” says Reddy.
READ: World Cup 2023: Rachin Ravindra New Leader of Golden Bat Tally; Dilshan Madushanka at Top in Golden Ball Race
Ahsan, on the other end, shared an interesting reason, stating that people are investing more time in gaming owing to social interactions that these gaming apps allow.
“I feel gaming is increasing with time because it is enabling social interaction. People become friends there, so it is attracting people. More a game is social, more successful it becomes,” says Ahsan.
Ahsan went on to share his own example of how he invested more and more time to participate in tournaments.
“When I played in the tournament in June-July 2023, it was a great experience. I was comparatively a new player as I had started playing in March. I didn’t think I would go this far. My team was also not so strong, but I worked on it.
“To strengthen my team (improve the skill level) either I had to pay real money, or work hard. Uss hard work me humne saari saari raat bhi game kheli hai. Aur 22 – 23 hours bhi game kheli hai. Office se chhutiya bhi li hai. (I have played the game throughout the night, played for 22 – 23 hours and also bunked office, to strengthen my team),” explains Ahsan.
Government support for the gaming industry
Meanwhile, Reddy stated that government support also has been critical in the growth of gaming industry and also exemplified the Prime Minister’s Award that Hitwicket won in the Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge.
“The government has been very positive and supportive of video gaming in general. I would put Real Money and Fantasy games as separate segments. Mobile and casual gaming is a different segment. The government is taking this thing very seriously as part of the tech ecosystem.
“Many online gamers are playing games which are not made in India. So government also wants to encourage Indian developers to build content,” says Reddy.
The government of Telangana also has a policy in place to setup a Special Economic Zone for gaming and animations. With such immense support from the government and more and more gamers taking a keen interest, the industry is expected to further rise in future.
“I think gaming will increase. Since earning is associated with it, online gaming will only increase. Also when people are tired of their professional life, they need some entertainment. Now if people are earning alongside the entertainment, it will definitely grow,” says Ahsan.
Reddy believes that gaming tournaments are the way for future.
“There have been massive tournaments of Clash of Clans. I think mobile gaming based tournaments are going to be the future. This is where you will start seeing audience going to 100 million once these tournaments penetrate,” says Reddy while mentioning one of the top mobile games around at the moment.
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