According to gaming platform Mobile Premier League’s India Mobile Gaming Report 2022 released on Sunday, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the top destination for mobile gamers, followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar and West Bengal.
Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Himachal Pradesh saw the highest increase in mobile gamers in 2022 compared to 2021.
In terms of games, Ludo Dice, Snakes and Ladders, Carrom, Fruit Dart, Block Puzzle and Poker were some of the top games played by players in different Indian cities.
In Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad and Allahabad have the highest percentage of players.
“Thirty-six percent of all players in UP come from these cities. This is the second year in a row that Lucknow has earned recognition for its gaming prowess – last year’s IMGR showed that growth in Lucknow has outpaced all metro areas,” the report said.
Last year, India became the world’s largest consumer of mobile games with over 15 billion downloads, according to a report by Lumikai, a gaming-focused venture capital fund.
India’s gaming market was worth US$2.6 billion in FY2022 and will reach US$8.6 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 percent.
“Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which have seen explosive growth in mobile gaming alongside other internet leisure activities, have quickly risen to the top, edging out gaming hubs such as metro cities like Mumbai and Bangalore for pole position In terms of user growth, Metros does not take a place among the top 10 gaming cities on the list. This growth is a testament to the huge popularity of mobile gaming outside of the big cities,” the report said.
Maharashtra, in second place, ranks Pune as the number one gaming city. Pune had 20 percent more players than second-placed Mumbai. Thane, Nagpur and Nashik are also in the top five, the report said.
In Rajasthan, the capital Jaipur leads the way, with over 200 percent more players than Jodhpur, the state’s second highest. There are also cities like Udaipur, Alwar and Kota.
Bihar’s massive growth in player numbers is being fueled by the popularity of mobile gaming in its capital, Patna, as well as in Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur. The number of players in the capital is more than twice as high as in the other four top cities combined.
West Bengal is fifth. Kolkata, Midnapore, Murshidabad, Howrah and Darjeeling are the biggest gaming cities in the state. Collectively, they dominate over 30 percent of the state’s total mobile gaming population, according to IMGR 2022.
With a 55 percent growth in mobile gamers, Odisha outpaced the state in growth. It was followed by Punjab with 53 percent growth in the state, Tamil Nadu at 42 percent, Puducherry at 38 percent and Himachal Pradesh at 23 percent year-on-year.
Odishas Bhubaneswar saw a 1,652 percent increase in mobile gamers. Punjab, which ranks second among states with the highest growth in players, is home to Mohali, India’s top performing city, which saw a whopping 7,130 percent growth in 2022 compared to 2021.
The administrative and commercial hub will be joined by Malerkotla, Fazilka, Dinanagar, Beas, Shahkot and Samrala to see impressive growth in the number of mobile gamers in 2022, according to the report.
“Gamers from across the country are embracing online mobile gaming with enthusiasm. Improved internet penetration and the availability of secure e-sports and gaming platforms have worked wonders to contribute to this rise. As a responsible gaming platform, we will continue to improve the quality of the games we offer and introduce more player-first initiatives to create a safer community of mobile gamers,” said Namratha Swamy, MPL Country Head for India.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been edited by the staff at Business Standard; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
