Though still in a nascent stage, the online gaming industry in India is expected to grow to $1 billion by 2021 from the current $360 million — a growth rate of 20% — with the online gamers community reaching 310 million by 2021, a Google-KPMG report said on Wednesday.

There has been a 117% spike in searches for online games by Indians, offering huge potential for developers, said the report entitled ‘Online Gaming in India: 2021’.

The report is based on a primary qualitative and quantitative research executed by global market research firm IMRB that covered over 3,000 respondents across 16 geographies.

The respondents were in the age group of 16-45 years who own smartphones and tablets/laptop/PC with internet connections.

The report provided a detailed overview of the online gaming industry in India, its potential growth, the challenges and growth opportunities for developers.

The report also highlighted the consumer insights in terms of demographics and their gaming preference, their usage and spending patterns.

---