Indian Gaming Market Crosses $1 Billion Milestone on Mobile Surge

India's gaming sector achieved a historic milestone by surpassing $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time in 2025, touching approximately $1.04 billion, representing a robust 14.8% year-on-year growth. Industry projections indicate the market will expand further to nearly $1.2 billion in 2026 and reach approximately $1.77 billion by 2030, driven by a five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate of 11.2%. This expansion is primarily fueled by rising mobile gaming expenditure, supported by widespread digital adoption and increasing disposable incomes across consumer segments.

The active player base reached approximately 511 million in 2025 and is projected to exceed 550 million in 2026, heading toward 700 million by 2030. Notably, female participation has grown substantially, rising from 43% in 2023 to approximately 49% in 2026. Furthermore, game genres are diversifying rapidly; non-battle royale mobile titles expanded their revenue share from 53.2% in June 2023 to 62.8% in June 2026. User-generated content platforms like Roblox and Minecraft are gaining immense traction among younger audiences, while the Unified Payments Interface remains the dominant payment mechanism, utilized by approximately 84.6% of players.

Despite strong growth, Indian players exhibit growing caution regarding generative AI adoption by game developers due to employment concerns. Developers are responding by emphasizing human-crafted content. Stakeholders are closely watching monetization trends and regulatory developments affecting digital entertainment.

Industry analysts will evaluate half-yearly developer revenue figures and user-generated content engagement metrics on September 30, 2026.