Online Gaming Industry

Social card games for several years enjoyed an exclusive and ardent population of players within the gaming scenario despite the emergence of alternative gaming platforms like PCs, consoles and hand-held devices. But, since the last decade, things have changed for the good. With the advent of online versions of the popular social card games like rummy, these free rummy games have witnessed a surge in the numbers of the players in the recent years. From the 120 million online gamers in 2016, the online gaming industry is expected to witness the growth in the number of online gamers to 310 million by 2021.

A pertinent question crosses the mind – has digitization of online gaming industry created more free rummy players in India. Let’s know more.

Early 2000

The entry of online gaming industry to the Indian scenario dates back to the early 2000s when PCs and console games introduced Indians to the online gaming world. However higher investment costs of PCs and consoles limited the growth to niche consumer segments. Over the years, by the end of the decade, with the picking up of online gaming on social media platforms, many global companies started looking at India as a potential gaming market. With smartphones also gaining popularity during those times, the emphasis shifted to focus on mobile gaming.

Post-2010

Smartphones evolved to become the primary platform for internet usage in the country. With factors like increased internet penetration and the availability of smartphones at economic prices contributed significantly to the growth of online gamers in India. Especially, India-centric games like Indian rummy have a huge spurt in the number of online players.

Young India

Although rummy is a game for all age groups, it is the “young” India within the age group of 20 – 35 years which has significantly contributed to the growing population of online free rummy card game players. Youngsters are tech-savvy and prefer to use their smartphones for varied day-to-day activities including gaming too. The concept of playing at one’s convenience has caught their imagination, and they are torchbearers of this growing trend of young online gamers across the world.

Availability of free games 

Gone are the days, when you had to worry about money even before you thought about playing. Today, with free online rummy card games and cash games both available, online rummy players can enjoy playing for free and playing for lower amounts too. Options like free rummy cash games where players can join the tables for free but earn real cash prizes is a huge rage amount many young online players.

Ease of digital payments

The emphasis of the government on digitization initiatives has fueled the growth of online gamers in the country too. The increased adoption of making online payments has made playing online rummy very lucrative. With attractive benefits for in-app purchases and secure payment gateways provided, many online players opine that digital payments are really a boon for online gamers.

Conclusion: exponential growth of the future 

As the online gaming industry in India is poised for an exponential growth, higher mobile penetration into Tier-II and smaller villages coupled with the increasing payment propensity of the online gamers will transform the future to nothing less than a puzzle-cum-action game.