With more and more companies looking to offer PC and console-like experience on smartphones, the online gaming industry should grow in the coming days, believes Roland Landers, CEO All India Gaming Federation. In an exclusive interview with Zee Business Online, Landers said that the online gaming industry has grown to be a Rs 4000 crore industry and while there were few challenges on the way, it should continue to evolve in 2020. Here are the edited excerpts of the interview -

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1. The online gaming industry has come a long way in India in the last few years. Take us through this journey. How has the experience been?

Yes, the experience has been great. We started AIGF in May 2016 with the objective to bring recognition to the online gaming industry. However, the Industry started getting recognition only 2017 onwards and today the online real money skill gaming forms a definite part of the M&E landscape in India and has grown to be a Rs. 4000 cr Industry.
 
Though the industry still has great potential to grow in the future.
 
2. You must have faced several challenges on the way -- the perception of Online Poker & fantasy gaming probably one of them. How did you deal with it?
 
We at AIGF focus on bringing recognition to the online skill gaming Industry in India, but as any other new industry, vertical or sector would, we too did face a few challenges at the beginning.
 
In the process, we have learned that the reason for these challenges was the ambiguity of perception amongst the public because of inadequate information available. To deal with this and any other issues pertaining to the online gaming industry, AIGF has been at the forefront, working with relevant policymakers to demonstrate the economic benefits that accrue from the online skill gaming industry and spread awareness by reaching to the target audience through our various touchpoints and initiatives like knowledge papers, conferences & events etc.

3. What has been the strategy to ensure that the industry stays away from false practices?

AIGF is committed to dealing with issues pertaining to the online gaming industry and since its inception in 2016, has been at the forefront, to regularize the gaming industry & work with relevant policymakers. 
 
One of the most notable practices that we follow is, all AIGF stakeholders are governed by our Skill Games Charter that ensures player protection and responsible gaming practices.

4. How gaming can be one of the biggest revenue generating industries for the country?

The industry is growing at a healthy CAGR in the excess of 30% Gaming is the biggest pastime in the world commanding the maximum revenue per user and the India's story is no different since the fundamentals of digital growth, digital richness coupled with financial inclusion will only grow from here onwards.

5. What are the trends that can drive online gaming in 2020?

Growth by App store downloads: 165%
Time spent on gaming: 6.92 Hours/ Week
Increase in numbers of female gamers: 45%
50% of smartphones users play mobiles games
Large console & PC games are curated for mobiles
Social gaming helps create communities
Noticeable improvement in monetization
Investors continue to be interested
Lucrative career option

6. How are the smartphone makers and powerful hardware contributing to this growth?

Smartphone makers & powerful hardware have been enthusiastically contributing to growth of digitization as a whole. Moreover, with the ever-growing interest in online games, these companies are not just restricted to occupying big spaces but accommodating the innovation in a compact device which gives the users the experience of large PC & console-based games like PUBG on the mobile devices.

Bigger screens definitely give a better gaming experience but what better than an ‘On-the-Go’ experience.