iWorld
How is India redefining the mobile-first gaming experience
Mumbai: India’s gaming market, which stood at $2.6 billion in 2022, is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 27 per cent to reach $8.6 billion by 2027.But mobile gaming especially takes the biggest piece of the gaming pie.
According to the ‘India Gaming Report FY 2022” released by Lumikai, India became the largest consumer of mobile games in FY 2022 in total downloads. India’s mobile game downloads hit 15 billion in FY22 and the market size is three times the size of the US and nearly two and a half times the size of China.
India also has three Indian gaming unicorns MPL, Games 24×7 and Dream11, all of which operate in the mobile gaming segment. In 2021, Nazara Technologies became India’s first gaming company to go public. And the list goes on. The Indian government has also taken notice of the rapidly growing sector and has been actively involved in boosting the sector.
An announcement was made in the Union Budget 2022-23 to the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) sector, for setting up an AVGC Promotion Task Force to recommend ways to realize domestic capacity for serving markets and the global demand. The significant growth that India has achieved in mobile gaming in recent years is due to a combination of different factors:
Mobile user base
India has over 1.2 billion mobile phone users, of which 600 million are smartphone users. Alongwith low rates of high-speed Internet data and the widespread availability of low-cost smartphones, smartphone penetration has resulted in users consuming copious amounts of entertaining content via mobile devices.
Accessibility
Mobile gaming took off more than PC and consoles due to its portability and easy accessibility. While users needed a high-spec PC and a console to play online, mobile games could be simply downloaded on smartphones and played whenever needed. Even the Pandemic which took its toll on businesses around the world accelerated the mobile gaming industry due to portability. Additionally, mobile gaming is relatively inexpensive compared to console or PC gaming.
Young tech-savvy Consumers
Around 50 per cent of the gamers in India are between the ages of 18 to 30. Mobile games can be playedanytime and anywhere, which makes them very convenient for young people who are always on the go. They have a social aspect, allowing players to compete or collaborate with friends, which can be appealing to young people who enjoy socializing. Furthermore, many young people in India have a strong interest in technology and are early adopters of new gadgets and apps, which has helped to drive the popularity of the mobile gaming experience among India’s young population.
Mobile Game Development
The growth in mobile game development in India has led to an increase in the number of mobile games produced. India has a large pool of talented and skilled game developers and the availability of talent is pouring into mobile gaming. In addition to titans like TCS, Larsen & Toubro and Tech Mahindra, companies like The Nine Hertz are also riding the mobile gaming wave. But game studios in India are not just developing mobile games for native audiences anymore. They are looking to expand their player base in American and European countries. Battle royale games such as PUBG, Free Fire and BGMI redefined the Indian market. Ludo King dubbed ‘the Lockdown Sensation’ went from 300 million installs in December 2020 to 800 million global installs in June 2022, becoming India’s most downloaded game of all time. Many gamers-cum-influencers such as CarryMinati and Triggered Insaan have turned into streamers who engage audiences for long hours of gaming. Along with Mortal and Scout, they hosted the World’s First Gaming Entertainment Show, ‘PLAYGROUND’ by Rusk Media. With the emergence of 5G, NFT, crypto and Web3, developers, operators and investors are jumping into what looks like a hotbed of India’s mobile-first gaming industry. Local game development studios are also creating games catering to the Indian audience and the government is also showing immense support for the industry’s growth.
The author of this article is Globale Media director of growth international business Salil Mahajan.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
