The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has introduced online gaming rules to protect children and other vulnerable sections of society from the negative impact of such games. MeitY said that while the online gaming industry has seen growth over the past few years, concerns have emerged, including addiction-related concerns among children and adults, financial losses incurred by adult users, and content-related concerns, such as the depiction of violent or inappropriate content. The rules address these concerns through safeguards such as warning messages, monetary spending limits, and time limits. Online real money games will have to follow KYC procedures and cannot offer financing for users to play games on their platform. The rules also disallow intermediaries to host or display any advertisement or promotion of an online game that is not permissible. The gaming sector in India has seen immense growth over the past few years, with the number of gamers in India standing at 507 Mn in FY22.
Despite the regulatory uncertainty, the gaming sector has seen immense growth over the past few years in terms of user growth. India’s gaming market size was estimated to be around $ 2.6 Bn in FY22, and was predicted to reach a size of $8.6 Bn by FY27, according to a report by Lumikai. The number of gamers in India stood at 507 Mn in FY22, growing at a CAGR of 12% from 450 Mn in FY21. Despite the regulatory uncertainty, the gaming sector in India has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years. As per a report by Lumikai, India’s gaming market size was estimated to be around $2.6 billion in FY22, and it is predicted to reach $8.6 billion by FY27. Additionally, the number of gamers in India stood at 507 million in FY22, growing at a CAGR of 12% from 450 million in FY21. This growth can be attributed to various factors such as increasing internet penetration, the popularity of mobile gaming, and the rise of esports in India.