“We clearly have the talent.”
asks Shalin Shodhan, director of the Gujarat-based indie studio Masala Games.
“That’s a mind-boggling thing, if you really think about it.
We have so many stories to tell.
There’s so much interesting stuff, both in ancient and modern India, that could be showcased.”
The venture-capital firm Lumikaiputs the figure even higher, at $3.8 billion.
Yet India’s games industry still remains comparatively tiny.
Multiple reasons have been put forward to explain why India’s games industry lags behind in terms of scale.
Kapur notes it could be partly down to years of antagonistic attitudes towards gaming in the country.
Meanwhile, government funding has tended to prioritise essentials like sanitation and clean energy rather than media and entertainment.
“So broadly speaking, there’s no money anywhere.”
There are also big skill gaps.
“We don’t have an office,” Chengaiah says.
“I mean, for registration purposes, we do have an office, but nobody works in that.
It’s all remote, nobody’s getting paid.
The hope is that if they find a publisher, people can start earning salaries.
But PC and console publishers are as rare as hens' teeth in India.
The only one Chengaiah knows of is 1312 Interactive, which was formed recently by a friend.
He reckons a similar title would cost perhaps $5-6 million USD if it was made outside India.
But Shodhan had the advantage of gaining valuable experience in the US.
“We definitely needed family support,” Shodhan says.
“So the decision was very big, but also very clear.
“Littering is a real problem here,” Shodhan says.
“This is a personal pet peeve, and something that I wanted to send a message about.”
Chengaiah enthuses about the huge potential scope for games set in India.
He cites titles such as the shooter FAU-G, as well as the just-released Indus.
“Indians don’t play card battlers.
As a consequence of all this, he thinks that Indian gamers have become wary of India-set games.
“They’ll be like, ‘Ah, no, no, we are not trusting that.
Make a good game first, and then come back to us.
It doesn’t even have to be set in India, make a good game’.”
Furthermore, all the signs point towards the Indian games industry turning a corner in the near future.
Shodhan thinks its high time, too.
Why can’t the same happen here?”
“Once that happens, all hell will break loose.”
“We clearly have the talent.
It’s just a matter of belief and a few foolishly bold investments.”
