Online gaming industry in India to reach $1 billion by 2021: Report

The online gaming industry in India is expected to gain momentum and grow at a rate of 20% to reach $1 billion by 2021 from the current $360 million, according to a report.

With a 117% spike in searches for online games by Indians, it is estimated that the current online gamer base of 120 million gamers in 2016 will grow to 310 million by 2021, 'Online Gaming in India: 2021'- a report by Google India and KPMG said.

The 'Online Gaming in India' report is based on a primary qualitative and quantitative research executed by IMRB that covered over 3000 respondents across 16 geographies including metros and non-metros to understand the importance of the triggers, barriers and perceptions among online gamers and non-gamers.

These geographies included Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Patna, Guwahati, Agartala and Shillong.

The respondents were in the age group of 16-45 years who are owners of smartphones and tablets/laptop/PC with internet connection of all devices.