Gaming industry has bright future

Updated on: Thursday, February 28, 2013

For the last few years, gaming pundits have been writing about the future of the industry, and the opinions flow thick and fast. Yannis Marlat, the CEO of Canadian gaming company Ubisoft Montreal, famously said that saying that the industry would be bigger in 2020 was a no-brainer, and that it wouldn’t make him look like a big visionary. And this is true. Digital distribution, the Ouya project, social gaming - the industry seems poised to succeed. The DSK group of companies certainly seems to subscribe to this view. Five years ago, the group tied up with CCI France and university Supinfocom to launch a DSK Superinfocom International Campus in Pune, which offers five-year full-time vocational courses in animation, video game design, game programming, transportation design, product design and digital design.

Mathew Chiramal, who handles the university’s operations in the south says, “Indians tend to discourage children from fine arts and drawing and playing video games, since they feel it isn’t lucrative.”

The necessity for a five-year vocational programme notwithstanding, the animation and video gaming industry has grown tremendously from the days of playing Mario Bros on the Atari in the 1980s. “The industry is similar to the movie industry,” says Chetan R, who works for a leading gaming MNC. “It will not go down. At the end of the day, you will always have people watching movies.”

Unlike the IT industry, creativity is a major driving factor here, and creative opportunities always have takers. However this gung-ho fever is a bit misplaced when it comes to India. The market hasn’t correspondingly expanding at the same level, and it could be a while before this happens.

“Honestly, the industry is down right now,” says Chetan. “Zynga is cutting jobs, as are several others. It’s a seasonal industry, since you tend to do more business during holidays like Christmas. The job market will increase, but it will take time,” he explains.

Manish Chandy, a gaming consultant, agrees. Having worked in the industry for two years now, he says that things are optimistic but this needs to be tempered with realism.

“Look, we know that things are looking up, but there are very, very few industries in the world today that are soaring without any obstacles,” he says. “It’s an excellent field for young students since it combines the best of everything they love, but make sure that this is what you want to do.”

Gaming industry has bright future

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