Cyber cafes no longer gaming destinations
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 19 January 2010, 15:21 IST   |    3 Comments
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Cyber cafes no longer gaming destinations
Bangalore: Many gamers no longer consider branded cyber cafes to be their destination to play their favorite online games. According to a report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB), in 2008, 53 percent of gamers used unbranded cyber cafes, but now the number has decreased to 35 percent. The report is based on a survey of 20,000 households, 90,000 individuals, 1000 SMEs and 500 cyber cafes followed by a secondary research using information from various published and private sources and other research bodies. According to the report, in 2000, firms such as Contests2Win and Hungama tried out incorporating brand experience into gaming, however "Somewhere along the way, the companies were not able to capitalize the audience." The typical gamer in India plays games three times a week but spends less than 150 per month on gaming. The report also noted that before 2007, the industry was not innovating much that made it difficult to monetize games. Things changed after both domestic and international publishers started generating several games across various categories, which increased the number of online gamers in India. Even though the base grew only by 16.5 percent, the number of gamers among active internet users rose from 25.3 percent to 41.2 percent in 2008. The report revealed that 41.2 percent of all active internet users in India played games online in 2008 as compared to 25 percent in 2007 showing a growth of 89 percent.The report also pointed out that the highly priced gaming consoles like Play Station and Xbox have still not attracted a lot of Indian gamers.

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