Presenting the Union Budget 2022 this week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaram announced plans to set up an Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force. He said it aims to “recommend ways of realizing” its potential to generate jobs and “build domestic capacity” to meet growing demand in India and around the world. The stakeholders have welcomed the move and look forward to seeing the government’s participation in the development of the AVGC sector in the country.
Sitharaman in more than one and a half hours Budget It was highlighted in the speech that this sector has immense potential to provide employment to the youth of the country.
As a follow up to the budget speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Addressing his party workers through virtual meet-up, he highlighted the possibilities of promoting animation and gaming in the country.
Prime Minister Modi said that avgc It was expected to reach Rs. 3 lakh crore in the next two years as per estimates.
“Now the thing is, we can’t stop our child from playing sports in the family,” he insisted. “But, will they just be playing developed games outside India or will India do something on its own? Hence, there is tremendous potential for ‘Build in India and Brand in India’ to give the talent of our country a chance to innovate.
Stakeholders are taking steps to positively promote animation and gaming. However, this is not the first time we are seeing the government showing interest in the AVGC sector. In fact, it announced plans Formation of AVGC Center of Excellence (CoE) In partnership with the Indian Institute of Bombay. Karnataka State Government also launched AVGC CoE in Bengaluru last month.
Robbie John, co-founder and CEO of a Pune-based game development company supergamingThe announcement of the creation of a dedicated task force to promote animation and gaming was a seal of legitimacy for the gaming industry in the country.
“Video games, unlike software, are the intersection of art, design, technology and commerce disciplines, and should be treated differently,” John said.
However, he mentioned that the AVGC Promotion Task Force is a step in the right direction, but it will be interesting to see how the planned development will be carried out to do justice to video games.
SuperGaming is a well known mobile game company in India and the developer behind the popular title maskgunWhich is claimed to have crossed 60 million downloads.
Like John, Sean Hyunil Sohan, India Head, Crafton, has also welcomed the move towards setting up a Promotion Task Force.
“This move will certainly create new opportunities for fostering local innovation, boosting employment and job creation, and upskilling of talent, such as gaming as a career,” he said, adding that the 2022 Indian gaming ecosystem Tantra will have a great year. ,
crafton is globally popular for pubg franchise, though South Korean company Last year released Battleground Mobile India ,bgmias the Indian incarnation of pubg mobile – Following original title restriction by the government.
The setting up of the task force is a welcome announcement, said Divya Sengupta, Art Director, Mumbai-based gaming studio Lost Ferry Interactive. Setting up studios in the country for foreign publishers.
“India with its rich history, diversity and artistic talent has a lot of stories to tell through video games and comics, but they need to be packaged to meet global standards. Currently, we are constrained by a huge skill gap,” she pointed out.
Lost Fairy Interactive is currently working on Paperplane, a third-person action-adventure game that will be available on PC and consoles. The studio also produces comics and art designs.
Gaming is already considered as an option for job seekers in the country. A survey conducted by HP India last year, in which 1,500 people aged 15-40 years responded, showed that more than 90 percent of the respondents Gaming is considered as a viable career option.
Manish Aggarwal, CEO of Mumbai-based mobile gaming and entertainment company Nazra Technologies, agreed with the government’s objective and said that the task force would facilitate employment for the youth.
“India currently owns about 10 per cent of the global AVGC market and has the potential to reach 20-25 per cent by 2027,” he said.
Nazara Technologies claims to have over 100 million monthly active users, and its network includes an e-sports company. nodwin gaming as well as e-sports-focused online publications sportskeeda,
“The Indian gaming landscape offers great opportunities to create games for Indian and global players. Hence, the idea of building domestic capacity to meet our markets and global demands is a good way to boost talent pool and content creation. It is a move,” said Vishal Gondal, Founder, Game Development and Publishing Company. Encore Games,
Bangalore headquartered company received eyeballs to be released FAU-G Just a few days after the ban of PUBG Mobile in the country in 2020.
Along with game studios and development companies, people in the emerging esports space are appreciating the task force’s plan by the government.
Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based mobile premier league ,MPL,
Ishan Arya, co-founder of Bengaluru-based The Esports Club, considered the government’s decision as an encouraging sign for the gaming industry.
“Development is something that has great potential in India and such efforts are sure to yield benefits,” he said. “However, with this I would also urge decision makers to clearly understand and define the distinction between gaming/esports; card games/skill games; fantasy games, and gambling.”
He said that all too often decision makers, industry leaders, and even media e-gaming, online gaming, i-gaming, or simply everything under a broad umbrella of gaming in-between these very specific places. Blur the lines. and e-sports.
“This makes it very difficult for businesses to understand and comply with applicable laws and confuse a large section of potential customers,” Arya said.
Romeo Misao, Head of Marketing for India and South Asia at Galaxy Racer, a Dubai-based esports company, said the gaming industry has the potential to enable higher contribution to the country’s GDP and massive job creation opportunities.
“While the formation of a task force will be a huge facilitator, it will be equally essential to ensure continuous innovation, ecosystem-wide collaboration and a well-planned and balanced allocation of funds to the right channels to ensure sustainable growth for the sector . Miso said.
Institutions offering non-formal courses for animation and gaming believe that the government’s plan to promote AVGC makes the future promising for existing and fresh students.
Anil Pant, Managing Director and CEO, Aptech, a vocational training services provider, said, “The announcement of the AVGC Promotion Task Force strengthens our voice that we have been raising for years.”
Mumbai-based Aptech has two renowned institutes for animation and gaming courses in the country, Arena Animation and MAAC.
“The AVGC sector has the potential to generate 75,000-1,20,000 jobs in the next 5 years, perhaps considering that many states are now actively promoting AVGC,” Pant said.
Deloitte India Jehil Thakkar, Partner and Leader of the Media and Entertainment Sector, said that the setting up of the AVGC Promotion Task Force will help India reach its potential of creating two million jobs.
“In [AVGC] There are critical skills for the growth of the metaverse and India is ready to take advantage of this ecosystem,” he said.
Saurabh Gupta, co-founder and CEO of social gaming platform Tamasha Live, also said that the upskilling of professionals in the AVGC sector will ultimately be beneficial for the growth of the Metaverse and allow India to compete on a global scale.
A report by consulting firm RedSeer in November an estimate The gaming market in the country is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 percent to reach $7 billion (approximately Rs 52,300 crore) over the next five years.
Girish Menon, Partner and Head of Media and Entertainment KPMG in India, said the formation of the AVGC task force would help the country meet both domestic and global demands.
KPMG in June last year said The Indian gaming user base will grow from 433 million to 657 million in the financial year 2025. The market size of gaming in the country was also projected to grow further up to Rs. 29,000 crore in 2025. 13,600 crore in the financial year 2021.
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