In the past few years, we have seen a rise in the adaption of casual gaming in India, especially in Tier 2 and 3 cities. Here the consumption of casual games has grown massively. Gaming, which was earlier seen as a teenage hobby, is now having an audience across age groups and genders. Today more than 85% of gamers are adults, with a large number in the age bracket of 60 and 70 years. While most mobile gamers are between 18 and 35 years of age group, there is a very big market for elderly consumers.
They are mostly active in casual games and are more or less first-time users. They are open to trying new games and have free time to spend on gaming activities. Today, we are seeing a lot of female gamers become active, and gaming is not confined to just men. In fact, according to a report by Lumikai, nearly 41% of gamers in India are women. This evolution of increase in female gamers is mostly due to how the industry has built an arena to bring females into gaming with a concentration on developing utterly simple hyper-casual games (games which anyone and everyone without much skill can easily play) and this has led to the massive usage growth in females. Also, the availability of smartphones at a reasonable price and the advent of cheap and bulk data has pushed this trend. The Indian smartphone market is growing steadily, with over 600 million users now, thus giving boost to time spent on devices and apps.
This is now growing to become a cultural shift with a change in the overall dynamics of the gaming industry. Today we are in a market and industry where a lot of myths around gaming are coming off. Gaming is no longer seen as an activity for kids or is confined to PC and PS4 gaming. Today mobile gaming has also taken over, and gamers are users beyond young kids and teens. Even the perception of gaming being a male-dominated activity is changing. In India, today we have events around gaming which are gender inclusive and are seeing increased female participation.
Another myth which is debunked is that gaming is only in urban areas. This is quite incorrect, as gaming penetration is quite high in rural India. The lifestyle in metros and cities does not allow people that much time to play causal games versus people in rural areas. Thus, the time spent on gaming apps is high there. And thanks to smartphone usage and internet penetration across towns and villages mobile gaming has gone to a substantial reach in tier 1,2,3,4 & 5 too.
As we see a rise in female gamers, we are seeing developers coming up with innovative and relatable games for women. Games like Candy Crush and other Match-3 genre games see a wide number of female users. Today, Candy Crush is a game which can be seen on any woman’s mobile phone, and they are on very high levels of the game. This denotes that these games are a part of their daily routine.
This change in dynamics has opened a great avenue for marketers and advertisers. Brands are now seeing in-app ads as a lucrative platform to connect with the TG. Brands in the space of E-commerce and D2C brands have a great opportunity to use in-app gaming as a medium to reach out to their core TG. Marketing and advertising strategies have evolved to include gaming in their overall marketing strategy. Brands today are open to capitalize on the growing influence of female gamers and are building authentic connections via them.
Here are some ways in which brands can capitalize this growing trend:
1. Brands could make games where you could be breaking the stereotypes and have the lead player as a female. This portrays women in an empowering way. not perpetuating outdated cliches, that continue to depict a female as an assured, skillful, and influential gamer. Female gamers have extraordinary choices from their male counterparts. They essentially look for socialisation, storytelling, and character constructing in video games. They are additionally more emblem-conscious and constant than guys, making this consumer base very treasured.
2. D2C brands can use in-app gaming and provide deals and offers for shopping. Retail therapy is a good way to connect with the core TG. Make your content material that speaks to what one woman speaks to another. It will help a lot,
3. Advertising and marketing campaigns focused on the social and emotional benefits of gaming will hit the right cord with female audiences.
With a growing number of female gamers and casual gamers, it seems inevitable that the wide number of female gaming developers, designers, and executives will also come up in an upward thrust in parallel with the range of woman game enthusiasts. This will yield far more variety in games and a greater representative gaming industry within the pursuits and values of its woman target market.
This article is penned by Rubeena Singh, Country Manager India & MENA, AnyMind Group
Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.
