Driven by powerful smartphones, there has been a 40 per cent surge in hardcore mobile gamers in India in the post-pandemic period, a new report showed on Wednesday. Mobile gaming in India saw a healthy 16 per cent (on-year) growth and in comparison to the pre-Covid period, there has been a whopping more than 100 per cent uptick in paid gaming.
Three in every five gamers spend 31-120 minutes in a typical play session and on an average, each gamer spends 79 minutes in a typical play session, according to CyberMedia Research (CMR). “Hyper-casual gamers have, over the past two years, switched or upgraded to new smartphones, and this is reflected in the increased game time,” said Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.
Nearly 86 percent gamers are satisfied with their current smartphone as a gaming device. “Smartphone gaming is increasingly becoming social, with gamers connecting with friends and family over gaming,” said Satya Mohanty, Head- Industry Consulting Group (ICG), CMR.
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The average number of games installed in a smartphone stands at 7, of which at least 4 games are played regularly. Three in every five gamers play action/adventure games. Hardcore gamers mostly play, or prefer action, and first-person shooter games, the findings showed. Two in every three hardcore gamers have participated in online gaming contests, with a 10 per cent YoY growth in gamer participation. Hardcore gamers participate, on an average, in eight online gaming contests annually, said the report.
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Some of the prominent gaming titles played include Counter Strike, StarCraft II, League of legends, and Rocket League. “Four in every nine hardcore gamers have played cloud-based games on their smartphone, with cloud gaming familiarity driven by Sony PlayStation (PS Now), Microsoft Xbox Game Pass and Google Stadia.
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