Seventy Indian Video Games and Esports companies have collectively joined to call for a comprehensive policy that focuses on video games, including both suggestions and categorization of online games, following global best practices. Collectively, they are asking the recently formed government to create two separate categories for online games namely video games and real money games.
Ten suggestions have been listed for the growth of the Indian Gaming Industry
Currently, both are grouped under the general term online games, which creates confusion and can lead to unjust regulations. The objective here is to separate video games, which are created simply for enjoyment, from real money gaming, which involves monetary stakes in some form of gambling. This is aimed at creating better growth and development for each sector that exists within these industries.
The organizer of this representation, Harish Chengaiah, founder and CEO of Outlier Games, stated that the Indian Video Game Industry is worth $942 million in 2024, which is “projected to reach $1.6 billion by 2029, surpassing the cumulative revenues of all Indian film industries and becoming the largest entertainment industry in India before the end of this decade.”
With this in mind, they’ve put forward several key suggestions to help speed up growth, up to 10. I have outlined it below.
- Differentiate Video Games and Real Money Games: Separate these categories into policies for Conducive Policymaking.
- Controlling Misrepresentation: Ask the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) to ensure the media doesn’t use images of video games when reporting on gambling or real money games.
- Regulatory Streamlining: Appoint the I&B Ministry as the Nodal Agency for Video Games, Create an AVGC-XR Wing, and Appoint a Nodal Officer.
- Avoid Premature Regulations: Don’t impose specific regulations on the video game industry too early.
- Key Focus Area: Support the development for Promoting Original IP Creation and Ownership.
- Bolstering Skilling and Vocational Training: Support for Professor of Practice and Train the Trainer Models, Updation to MESC and NSQF Mechanisms.
- Reforming Education: Standardize and improve higher education courses in Game Development and Esports.
- Market Access: Provide financial assistance for Indian companies to participate in international gaming conferences and events.
- Rationalizing Import Duties: Simplify and reduce import duties for essential game development hardware.
- GST Rationalisation: Lower GST on video games from 18% to 12% and offer corporate tax holidays to boost industry growth.
As mentioned earlier, 70 companies from the Indian video games and esports industry signed this representation letter for online games categorization, organized by Chennai-based Outlier Games. Notable signatories include Nodding Heads Games, the developer of Raji: An Ancient Epic, Dot9 Games, the developer of FAU-G and FAU-G Domination, as well as SuperGaming, the creator of Indus Battle Royale.
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