By the time you read this, chances are that you would have already seen trailers of the new Aamir Khan starer Ghajini. The film is set to hit theatres on December 25, and so is its gaming counterpart. A PC game based on the film Ghajini, going by the same name, will be released along with the film.

The game, incidentally, is the first one that my company FXLabs has created exclusively for the Indian market. Considering the star power in the film, and also its extensive promotion, we expect the Ghajini game to do well. Moreover, the 10-15 million PCs that are equipped to run the game across the country constitutes our potential market.

I have often faced a question as to why we chose to base our first game for the Indian market on a film, rather than on cricket, or some other theme. It is simply because marketing a game based on a Bollywood blockbuster would be much easier. The game gets promoted along with the film, and does not require the company creating the game to allocate huge amounts of money to market it. Also, as a game based on a film is voiced by the stars of the film, as in the case of Ghajini that is voiced by Aamir and others, it helps increase the appeal.

However, if you look at the top PC games the world over, you will realise they are not related to any film. Games based on Spiderman and Godfather are, of course, exceptions. But, for a small company addressing a small market like India; it makes sense to piggyback the game on a Bollywood blockbuster.

Categories in Gaming
Gaming constitutes part of the larger animation and gaming industry. But, gaming itself can be divided into four categories, rather sub-industries: mobile games, online gaming, PC games, and games for consoles. Let me talk about each of them briefly.