Bollywood: The Next Big Thing In Mobile Gaming

Shahrukh Khan, or King Khan as he is popularly known, is extremely choosy
about the appearances that he makes. So when he made an appearance for the
launch of the Don mobile game, it really did not come as a surprise. The world's
second largest mobile market has found a new ally in the worlds largest
entertainment industry. With more than 300 film releases every year, Bollywood
has opened up a new and uncharted territory for mobile gaming.

The Indian scenario

According to Neeraj Roy, CEO, Hungama.com, the mobile gaming market in India is
pegged at around Rs 70 crore today, out of which Bollywood-based gaming
constitutes nearly Rs 10 crore. However, the Bollywood segment is expected to
touch Rs 30 crore in next two years. Rang De Basanti, to Sarkar and even Home
Delivery, are among the 60-odd movies that have been converted into mobile
games.

The Indian mobile game business currently accounts for only five percent of
the global wireless market, which is quite small when compared to the overseas
gaming market. As Roy put it, “The kind of growth potential that the Indian
mobile market is showing is huge and Bollywood is expected to act as a catalyst
for this sector to boom. Indians are crazy about movies and music especially
Bollywood films. Mobile content and gaming companies are now tapping this target
audience.”

Downloading Bollywood games can cost anything between Rs 50 to Rs 150 per
download, and the revenue model is gaining in popularity. On an average, a movie
game logs in 7,000 to 10,000 down-loads with the more popular ones even
registering 25,000 downloads. However, how well the game is received depends on
how popular the movie is and how well the game has been made. ”It all started
with Sholay, which made it to the top of the download charts setting a new
record in Bollywood content download, with the game crossing the 1,50,000
downloads mark on GSM operators and 8,00,000 on CDMA phones,” said Rajiv
Hiranandani, CEO, mobile2win. With the movie games becoming a rage, service
providers are also gearing up for the new frontier. Elaborating about the same
Abhinadan Saikia, Spokesperson, Airtel said, “Airtel continues to establish
relationships with some of the best gaming developers around the world. In this
engagement, ideas, consumer expectations and trends are shared and discussed for
the developers to work on and to come out with new games that will connect with
the Indian audiences.”

The segment is all set to witness a big boom what with innovative campaigns
being launched by mobile operators and the still untapped rural segment, which
can change the current market scenario completely. That apart, with the NRI
markets increasingly playing a substantial role in the success of Bollywood
movies, these games also have a big target audience waiting to be tapped within
the overseas Indian population.

	“The mobile gaming market in India is pegged at around Rs 70 crore today, out of which Bollywood-based gaming constitutes nearly Rs 10 crore. However, the Bollywood segment is expected to touch Rs 30 crore in next two years”
-Neeraj Roy CEO Hungama.com

Worrying factor

While the sector is booming many are worried that it may not be as long lasting
as they want it to be. One of the primary reasons that analysts are attributing
to this thinking is the genre and the style on which most of the Hindi movies
are produced. Most Bollywood movies provide minimal scope for developing a game
centered on the flick. On the other hand, Hollywood routinely churns out movies
like Batman, Superman and Spiderman to name a few, which fit perfectly into the
genres of mobile games.

Talking about the unpredict-ability of the business Vishal Gondal, CEO,
Indiagames.com said, “Bollywood remains an unpredictable business as not many
Bollywood films can be used for games as most of them are based on love stories.
We have to be very selective about movies and the kind of games we develop.”

	“Bollywood remains an unpredictable business as not many Bollywood films can be used for games as most of them are based on love stories. We have to be very selective about movies and the kind of games we develop”
-Vishal Gondal CEO, Indiagames.com

As of now the mobile gaming business is being promoted mainly by the service
providers. Reliance started the trend by giving games free to all its CDMA
subscribers, after seeing the popularity they started charging for downloads.
But with the booming business the revenue sharing between the content provider
and service provider is still a major pain.

Operators such as Airtel and Orange update the 1,000-odd games twice a week.
And though gaming contributes a small share of revenues to the operators, its
share in the value-added services is increasing manifold ever year.

	“It all started with Sholay, which made it to the top of the download charts setting a new record in Bollywood content download, with the game crossing the 150,000 downloads mark on GSM operators and 800,000 on CDMA phones”
-Rajiv HiranandaniCEO, mobile2win

Yet, content providers like Hungama.com, Mauj.com, Indiangames do not seem to
be happy. They are unhappy about the fact that in these competitive times, a lot
of effort goes in conceptualizing, designing, producing and marketing a mobile
game. And while they put in all the efforts the revenue sharing model is still
tilted towards the service providers.

The way ahead

Gaming is still restricted to a certain age group but it could take off with 3G.
According to a Nasscom report, the mobile game development industry is a $100
million business in India and is growing at 100 percent year on year basis. By
2010 industry is expected to be worth $500 million. Indian companies could book
an additional $130 million in meeting local demand for mobile games by then up
from the current $20 million.

Talking about the future of this segment industry analysts note that real
growth in mobile gaming based on Bollywood games will come from the rural areas.
Another reason the mobile gaming market will grow in India is that it satisfies
the aspirations of the common man.

-connect news bureau