Online games with Indian themes, characters becoming all the rage

Mythical monsters and historic Indian gods are trumping trolls and orcs because the characters of alternative for Indian players who’re more and more demanding domestically related themes and motifs of their on-line video games.

This pattern, which follows the rising recognition of India-focused content material — each up to date in addition to drawn from folklore and mythology — that’s seen on tv exhibits, music, animation and comics is pushing gaming corporations to additionally observe swimsuit, say business executives.

Game studios similar to SuperGaming, Giga Fun, NoddingHeads Games and Studio Sirah have in the previous couple of years created video games that both use characters from Indian mythology similar to Bheem and Arjun or are set in a distinctly Indian setting — whether or not futuristic or mythological.

Typically, the most well-liked video games have thus far been primarily based on Western themes and have Western tropes like trolls and orcs.

“(But) people now want to play games that are set in a familiar context or with familiar themes,” mentioned Aabhas Sharma, co-founder of Studio Sirah, maker of Kurukshetra — a card battler recreation the place gamers earn playing cards and try and outplay their opponents in on-line duels.

The recreation is massive on technique and consists of a mixture of gods and legendary monsters in addition to different fictional characters, battling it out because the story progresses.

NoddingHeads Games, which created Raji that was among the many first Indian-themed console video games, has not too long ago signed up with Netflix. Set in historic India it’s among the many few console video games to return in another country. It attracts inspiration from the Mahabharat and Ramayan, with the in-game structure modelled after medieval Rajasthan. This will now be obtainable on the streaming companies’ gaming platform globally.“Back in 2017 we had to contact practically every publisher in the Western hemisphere to get our game out, a lot has changed since then,” mentioned Avichal Singh, co-founder, NoddingHeads Games.

A research launched earlier this month by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Lumikai — a gaming and interactive media centered fund — discovered that 82% of players are eager about taking part in video games primarily based on Indian mythology whereas over 40% of non-gamers are extra inclined to begin gaming if video games are primarily based on Indian themes.

This has made the Indian theme gaming house one of many quickest within the nation’s gaming business which is estimated to be value over $2.6 billion.

Introducing Indian themes isn’t simply restricted to the mythologies. Pune-headquartered SuperGaming has created Indus, an Indo-futuristic battle royale recreation. “In addition to storytelling through the game, it’s also about visualising India in a way that hasn’t been done before. Indo futurism has familiar elements but reimagined in a modern avatar which appeals to gamers,” mentioned Roby John, co-founder, SuperGaming.

So whereas the sport follows the acquainted battle royale format, the areas function widespread Indian websites and motifs, reimagined with a futuristic twist.

The demand for Indian-themed video games can also be resulting in the launch of latest studios specializing in this phase. Mostly being arrange by founders who’ve labored with bigger gaming corporations up to now and have seen how the Indian market has advanced.

“We tried to create Indian-themed content in our earlier roles, but the market wasn’t ready then,” mentioned Krishnendu Mukherjee, co-founder, Giga Fun Studios. The founders earlier labored with bigger gaming corporations, however struck out to arrange Giga Fun which is seeking to faucet into the informal gaming market in India. According to the Lumikai research, 50% of players are prepared to pay for informal video games, highest throughout all segments.

This rising desire for Indian-themed video games isn’t shocking, mentioned Justin Shriram Keeling, founding normal accomplice of Lumikai.

“We’ve seen the popularity of Indian TV shows, movies, music, animation and comics. These are all mediums where domestic themes and culture have dominated the market, so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing this in gaming,” he mentioned.

The large success of Ludo, which had over 250 million downloads within the first part of the Covid-19 lockdown additionally factors in the direction of the desire individuals have for video games and themes which can be acquainted to them.

While the themes could also be Indian, these corporations have realised that there’s a lot of curiosity globally as effectively. While the non-resident Indian neighborhood is one massive a part of it, the epics, and different themes are inclined to resonate with non-Indian players, mentioned the builders.

When creating content material primarily based in Indian mythology, recreation builders are cognizant of the truth that this can be a delicate topic. “We’ve taken some measures in terms of being respectful of these,” mentioned Sirah’s Sharma. For occasion, an individual can’t play the sport as god, or a god can’t get killed and so forth.

Going forward one can count on to see much more gaming content material throughout acquainted mythologies and epics in addition to informal video games one could have performed whereas rising up, simply on a distinct medium.