- GDAI Maps Growth Priorities for India’s Gaming Industry
- Faces a Critical Challenge of Turning Creative Talent into Globally Competitive Studios
The Game Developer Association of India (GDAI), the country’s apex industry body for gaming, today launched the India gaming report ‘GameDev Outlook 2026’ at the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) in Chennai. Developed in partnership with the chief sponsor ‘PhonePe Appstore’ and research partner ‘The Dialogue’, the report examines the structural challenges facing Indian game developers and identifies priorities for building globally competitive studios.
Drawing on the survey of industry and academia, the report identifies access to capital, publishing expertise, production capabilities and market access as critical enablers for studios seeking to turn creative ideas into commercially viable games.
India’s video-game market generated an estimated US$1.04 billion in revenue in 2025, growing 14.8% year-on-year and reaching 511 million players. However, annual revenue per user stood at just US$2.04, underscoring the gap between the country’s expanding player base and its monetisation potential.
The report highlights the opportunity for Indian developers to move beyond domestic audience growth and build original intellectual property (IP) with international appeal. With female participation approaching half of the player base and non-battle royale titles gaining share in mobile revenue, the evolving market also presents opportunities across genres, platforms and audience segments.
The key findings suggest 82.7% of surveyed studios name the launch of new game IP as a top priority, well ahead of entering international markets (49.0%), and raising capital or securing a publishing deal (38.5%). 75% identify capital or publishing investment as a barrier to growth, highlighting the need for stronger funding and publishing pathways. 41.3% of industry submissions come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations, demonstrating the geographic spread of India’s game-development talent.
Co-sponsored by Gameberry Labs, NODWIN Gaming, Chimera VC, and 1312 Interactive, the report points to the need for closer collaboration between developers, investors, publishers and educational institutions to strengthen the commercial foundations of the ecosystem. The report comes against the backdrop of the Union Budget 2026-27 proposal to allocate INR 250 crore for Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges. The move is critical to helping more studios progress from prototypes to market-ready releases and sustainable businesses.
Commenting on the report launch, Sridhar Muppidi, Chairperson, Game Developer Association of India, GDAI, said, “India’s biggest advantage in gaming is its young and diverse creative base with strong original-IP ambitions. With the player base reaching well beyond the metros, the young developers now need capital at every stage and education built around real team projects. The Union Budget’s talent development allocation and GDAI Vision 2035 become fuel for a generation of Indian developers and artists to build games for the world.”
This report also explores the co-affinity of gamers with other categories, helping them improve their user acquisition strategies. 40% of PhonePe Appstore users navigate in a regional language. Their analysis in the report demonstrates that gamers are heavy consumers of non-gaming apps, with Midcore gamers leading in digital multi-homing (Finance, Travel, Business), Hardcore gamers anchoring Media & Audio consumption, and Casual gamers relying heavily on Core Utilities and Shopping.
During the launch of the report, Priya Narasimhan, Chief Business Officer, PhonePe Appstore, said, “User acquisition remains a formidable hurdle for Indian developers, making the GameDev Outlook 2026 report’s insights into user behavior critical for building with precision. At PhonePe Appstore, we are proud to partner with GDAI to solve the distribution side of this challenge. Our comprehensive digital goods marketplace empowers developers to distribute their apps and catalogues directly to a vast audience, driving sustainable scale.”
By mapping the opportunities and constraints facing the industry, GameDev Outlook 2026 calls for coordinated action across financing, talent development, production, publishing and market access to help India build a stronger pipeline of globally competitive game studios.