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Kids spent more than $1.5 bn on digital gaming across 7 key markets
MUMBAI: Children are increasingly important drivers of digital gaming consumption. In the first half of 2012, kids in the US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, South Korea, and Japan spent more than $750 million on different digital gaming activities, including downloading mobile gaming apps, purchasing virtual items in free-to-play computer and mobile games, subscribing to premium memberships, and acquiring digital games and DLC content for console and portable game devices.
With growth accelerating, this will translate into over $1.5 billion for the year in these markets, according to GameByte, a syndicated global research product from Interpret which studies digital gamers ages 6-64 in ten global markets, including high-growth emerging markets China, Brazil, and Russia.
“Among the 112 million kids in these markets, 86 million have adopted at least one form of digital gaming and the majority of them have spent money on their hobby. Despite the impressive aggregate numbers, an average kid in the aforementioned seven countries only spent $25 on digital games in a six month time frame, disproportionate to the amount of time they spent on such content, suggesting a significant monetisation opportunity,” said Interpret VP of Research Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai.
Mobile games, already accounting for one third of digital gaming revenue, are important growth drivers given the rapidly increasing penetration of smartphones and tablets globally. “In addition to apps and in-game items, smart toys that combine physical toys, virtual gaming worlds, and mobile devices, such as Skylanders Lost Islands from Activision, Mattel’s Apptivity, and Infinity Project from Disney, will propel the industry forward. Let’s also not forget about the huge market in China, where close to one half of these young digital gamers reside,” commented Cai.
GameByte is a research product designed to understand cross-platform digital gaming adoption and behaviour across global markets.
It includes market and revenue sizing, as well as attitude and behaviour data for digital gaming business models including downloadable game apps and in-app purchases, subscription MMOs, freemium online games, downloadable content (DLC) on consoles, casual games, and social games. Kids 6-12 and teens/adults 13+ are included in the sample, and countries covered include US, UK, France, Germany, China, Japan, Brazil, Australia, South Korea and Russia. GameByte is available as a subscription, or you can purchase custom data or reports.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
