Cultural Industries Reverse Pedagogy – Video Games by Jeremy Scott, Meng Xiao and Shashwath Malli

 Jeremy Scott - Innovation and Convergence in the Video Games Industry 

This opening part will attempt to give a layman’s explanation of the industry, of its most popular companies, and how the industry itself has developed since the 1980s specifically. It will then focus on how companies have innovated, splintered and attempted to corner their own specific markets. We will learn how markets and demographics have expanded, and what all these changes mean, both for the present and the future. 

The Biggest Players 

1. Nintendo 

The first and probably most famous video games company is Nintendo. Since the mid-1980s, the company has dominated the industry almost entirely until the rise of PlayStation, in terms of sales of its home and portable consoles. It has been an innovator in the industry, whilst visually one can see the development from its early consoles to the present day. The controller for the NES was revolutionary in its simple and easy interface, whilst the Wiimote was similarly revolutionary in its use of motion sensor control. 

Nintendo is the longest-running industry still at the forefront, having been created in its current form in the 1960s. In the “console war”, where direct sales against competitors are compared, they have succeeded in winning with the NES, the SNES (Super Nintendo), and the Wii. Their latest console, the Switch, is on target to possibly win the most recent console war, despite its late release date in comparison to its competitors. Nintendo is also completely dominant in the hand-held console market, out-selling every competitor consistently since the Gameboy’s release in 1989. 

2. Sony 

Playstation is a comparatively younger organisation, having been formed in 1994 in Japan. Their streamlined console systems and differentiation from competitors have given them a strong edge in the market. Indeed, they are the only other current developer than Nintendo to win the “console war”, with the PlayStation, PS2, and PS4 all outselling their competition. 

Sony’s success has come in many forms. Since their first console, they have been the chosen console for third-party development, meaning that there are far more games produced for their consoles than for Xbox or Nintendo consoles. For example, whilst the Nintendo 64 had around 400 games produced for it, the original PlayStation sold 8,000. Whilst it did not defeat its competitor, Sony’s PlayStation Portable device was the only non-Nintendo device to effectively challenge its competition. 

Nowadays, Sony is involved as much as a media hub as much as it is a games developer, which we will discuss later. 

1. Xbox 

Xbox has not achieved the dominant success of its direct competitors, though it still has achieved significant success as a console host and game developer. Their slight drawback is their lack of unique flagship titles and mascots. Except for Halo, Xbox has had trouble acquiring exclusive and permanent titles, as well as an image that associates with those titles. 

They are the second major American company to succeed in video games after Atari’s demise in the early 1980s. They have also innovated with regards to the development of online multiplayer play and the implementation of gamification methods such as Gamerscore. 

1. Atari (defunct) 

Briefly looking at the pioneering days of video games, Atari were the face of the industry, monopolising success in the arcade and home consoles. They are still a part of popular culture as a result and retain that image through media of the time. 

The company went bankrupt in 1983 when a massive surplus in production vastly outweighed the market for video games. Atari, as well as most of its competitors, went bust with too high payments in the creation and marketing of their games, whilst high-cost low-quality games were rejected by the public. However, games such as Missile Command, Asteroids and Pong are representatives of the first-ever popular games. 

1. Sega (partly defunct) 

Sega previously made arcade games before they developed their own home consoles. During the 1980s and 90s, they were Nintendo’s primary competition, making similar family-friendly content. They were squeezed out of the market by PlayStation, which offered more adult and serious content than Sega could offer. After a few major flops in their home and portable consoles, Sega withdrew from developing video game consoles and instead became simply a game developer. Their mascot was Sonic the Hedgehog, though nowadays they work on “Triple-A” titles such as “Total War” 

1. (Technological) Innovations 

1. Controllers 

Controller development is a classic showcase of how video games themselves have innovated over the decades. For example, whilst it looks primitive now, the NES controller became the standard for its age. Likewise, the use of both an analogue stick and a d-pad on the Nintendo 64 was reflective of the transition from 2D to 3D gaming. PlayStation then added a second analogue stick which became the industry standard. For handheld controllers, the Xbox 360 and Xbox One controllers have become the current standard, used as the model for third-party controllers as well as official ones. Meanwhile, the Switch, Nintendo’s latest console, is both a console and a controller simultaneously. 

1. Motion Sensors (no controllers at all) 

The Nintendo Wii was one of the most innovative designs for a console ever, as it relied on motion sensors instead of wired button commands. The entire console was built this way, and every game made use of motion sensors alongside the simple white controller provided. Whilst motion sensors had technically been in video games since the 1980s, most notable with the “Power Glove” and the video game “toy” for the PlayStation 2, this was the first time the method had been enacted on such a grand scale. 

As a result, Nintendo was hugely successful. They went so far as to patent their idea so that PlayStation and Xbox could not release equivalents. Therefore, three years later when the patent lifted and Nintendo’s competitors could release their versions, the Kinect and Move were flops, as the market that desired motion-sensor play had already flocked to Nintendo. The company had therefore cornered the market, even though their rivals’ later technology was technically superior. 

1. Exclusivity and Flagship Titles 

Each platform has developed its own image over the decades with flagship titles and successful brands from high-selling products. For example, without the Mario character, or indeed any character from that universe, Nintendo would suffer greatly. Likewise with Xbox and their Halo franchise. Sony is somewhat immune from this, as they have acquired many exclusive titles through their openness to third-party developers, as previously mentioned. 

Many consoles have succeeded and failed based on these flagship titles. For example, Sega’s later consoles flopped because of a lack of major titles for the platform. However, when Nintendo bought the rights to Sega’s titles, Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega’s biggest mascot) appeared in numerous Nintendo titles: hardly a coincidence. 

1. Stylus and Touch-Screen 

Once again, whilst touch-screen technology is very normal in present-day society, Nintendo were the first to properly integrate it entirely into a console, namely their portable DS (dual-screen) device. Using a stylus, players have since been able to make more delicate movements with their hands than ever before. Compared to their early button arrangements, the possibilities for gaming have increased with this technology, from puzzles to mystery games. 

1. The Innovations we take for Granted 

Overall, the industry has changed in so many countless ways that most of them the public take for granted. For example, the move from cartridges to CDs to online downloads; the development of the video game market niche (young men and boys) to a wider age and sex group; and the continuous pushing of the boundaries of graphics and gameplay capabilities. From the pioneering 3D graphics of 1996 to the present-day Wild West of Virtual Reality video games that promise so much for the future, there are various ways the industry develops every year. 

Within games themselves, there are now industry standards that are taken for granted. Firstly, games are no longer linear: a player can choose moral and ethical questions to affect the outcome of the game. Furthermore, they can choose to ignore the rules of the game and instead do what they like, forever if desired, and still enjoy the game. Sandbox games like GTA have built gaming empires on this concept alone. 

Secondly, games have standards that are continuously upheld in present-day games. First-Person Shooters nowadays often resemble one another (a gun in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, for instance), because certain games such as Goldeneye in 1997 were so popular in this format. Multiplayer games have integrated and developed lobbies with upgrades, all as part of the developing understanding of popular and successful formats over the decades.  

1. Divergence in Media 

1. Gaming Revenue 

Perhaps most importantly, gaming revenue has dispersed and grown in the last decade especially. Whilst computer and console gaming continues to bring in large revenues, the newest player is mobile gaming. Mobile games are so successful that their income is now greater than all their rivals combined. This brings a threat to Triple-A game development, and it will be interesting to see how this changes soon: will large console producers move to mobile gaming? Is the age of Triple-A game development over? 

1. Game Release 

There is no longer a standard for releasing a game. Before the Internet Age, a game had to be released on time and completed, as there was no easy way to universally patch or fix it for all the company’s customers. Nowadays, however, it is possible to release an unfinished or broken game and repair it later. This leads to controversial practices by Triple-A companies such as EA, who often release games and charge extra for “fixes” or for “Day-One DLC”, meaning that additional releases of the game cost more when they arguably should have been released with the original version of the game. 

1. Triple-A and Indie Companies 

Before the current era, third-party developers would flock to the console or platform that would be most successful and profitable for them to develop on – usually Sony or personal computers. However, with the advent of online platforms like Steam and Epic Games, a company does not need to consult a console to publish their game. Is it profitable anymore for these smaller, “indie” companies, to release their games on consoles? 

This divergence of company size has become very pronounced with some interesting possible consequences. When Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released in 1998, it was one of the biggest games (if not the biggest) of all time at that moment. It required around 80 internal workers for all aspects of the game. For a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or The Witcher 3, two very recent Triple-A titles, the staff numbers have been recorded as around 2,000-3,000 people including external contractors. The overhead cost to develop a major title is so high that it once again raises the question of whether Triple-A games are under threat. They are in a position that they require immense success to break even. 

It is not just the size, however, but also the work ethic of different companies that have greatly changed. Triple-A companies are far tighter and more organised than a modern indie company, and employees work very hard. It is common to work overtime, and further on “Crunch Time” in the direct lead-up to a release date. Crunch Time itself is controversial, being abused by some game projects (there are rumours that L.A. Noire’s Crunch Time was extended to two years). There is a heavy work ethic and a very demanding role from each employee. 

Indie companies are very different and operate a very different work ethic. With far less reliance on Crunch Time, many indie companies pride themselves on their good rapport with employees and their incorporation of their employees into the creative process. These Indie companies, whilst they do not create world-famous titles, are often successful based on different qualities. Their games are based on the gameplay itself rather than a grand story or high-end graphic capability. Their games are often published online or independently, whilst their employees have more of a creative say in the final product. This is very representative of the old-school producers of the 1980s and 1990s, and there are a lot of similarities between Indie companies and the classic studios of that era. 

1. The Author’s experience – Blazing Griffin 

The author would like to conclude with an explanation of their own experience to complement the previous paragraphs. At Blazing Griffin in Edinburgh, UK, it was a great representative of an Indie company. There were around 25 people in the company, all working in the same room. The author’s own department was QA, which consisted of three people. Otherwise, the rest of the group was made up of marketing, design, art, music, and various managerial or promotional jobs. There was a universal understanding that all team members were encouraged to contribute to the final project and any future projects. It was therefore the individual creative freedom that was valued above all else. 

Blazing Griffin, therefore, operates a small business in competition with Triple-A companies. Their policy of becoming a “Triple I” business reflects their commitment to Indie game values, whilst releasing the best and most successful game possible under the circumstances. 

Meng Xiao – Global market of Video games & Online gaming revenue models 

This part is focused on the business part of the video games industry, starting with the global market share sorted out by different notions. Then we talked about the online game history and then some difference between online games and offline games. After this, we focus on some most used online gaming revenue models, like subscription, microtransactions, etc… 

1. Global Market Share 

Thanks to some organisations like NewZoo and Statista, we can get some statistics of the video games industry. The Video Gaming Industry is estimated to be worth $159.3 Billion in 2020, which is a sizeable increase of 9.3% from 2019. Comparing to other sectors in the cultural and creative industries, the video game industry benefited a lot from the lockdown measures, especially the distribution and monetizing. And according to the current forecast, this industry will be worth 200 billion dollars in 2023. 

Then if we see this global market share by operating platform, we can discover that market shares of all platforms except the web-browser based game are increasing. The decline of browser-based PC games is because of its unprofitable business model and because of the gradual abandonment of Flash. Therefore, the market share of games on the computer, downloaded plus web browser game, is now the smallest platform. 

Meanwhile, console games had the second-largest growth; it reached 45.2 billion dollars. This increase is slowed due to the release of new generation consoles of Xbox and PlayStation at the end of 2020, so the consumer may hesitate when considering buying a new console from the last generation or a new game on their old console. Another factor is that console games require heavier physical distribution, like Fnac, Micromania, and the production process is also heavily disturbed by the lockdown. 

The biggest market is the mobile market, the combination of both tablets and smartphones. Almost half of the revenue (77.3 billion dollars) is generated from mobile platforms, which gives it an increased rate of 13.3%. There are several reasons for this huge increase. The mobile platform has the lowest barrier to entry: the smartphone is way cheaper than console and computers, games are also cheaper to begin playing on mobile. Besides, there is the spillover effect from the shutdown of cybercafes in some market, especially in East Asia like China, Japan and South Korea. Last, the Covid-19 had the least influence on the development of mobile games compared to other platforms because they are normally less complex. 

Then if we see the global market by regions, there are 2.7 billion players in the world, 54% of players are based in the APAC area, where almost half of the revenue is generated, which is 78.4 billion dollars. Meanwhile, the fastest-growing regions are the Middle East and Africa, and then Latin America, thanks to the infrastructure development. The rest two regions are North America and Europe. These two are mature market and the hold rate of consoles are higher than other regions. There are the least players in North America while it generated more than 1/4 of global revenue, which makes player from this region the highest spending per player. From all those things above, we can see the high potential in the video games industry, especially in the emerging market. 

1. Online Games history and genres 

Online games are born before the widespread introduction of the Internet. It dates back to packet-based computer networking in the 1970s. The first online game is MUD1, a multi-user dungeon. It was later connected to ARPANet, which later became the Internet. Later in the 1990s, the internet developed. There are some really well-known games, some of which are even active franchise until now, for example, Quakeworld in 1996, StarCraft owned by Blizzard in 1998, Counter-Strike and Everquest in 1999. And more and more consoles are starting to be connected to the internet and offer online games (PS2, Xbox). 

Into the 21st Century, online games have developed a lot thanks to the dropping of cost in technology, servers and the internet. Low-latency has become more and more common, which allows the development of some new genres like massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). The most famous one is World of Warcraft, which is still very active now. In this type of games, players will be incarnated in the character, and control the character to explore the virtual world. Normally this kind of game allows the customization of features of the main character, so people will feel more unique and immersed. Except for World of Warcraft, another very famous MMORPG is Final Fantasy 14 and it failed for the first release but the second release went well so it is still operating until today. Another popular genre of online game is MOBA Game, Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. It begins with the Defense of the Ancients, which was a mod of Warcraft III. And it is better known under the name Dota. After that, another great game came into play in 2010, League of legends, with its annual report championship events attracting a lot of audiences. This genre is a strategic game in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield, and try to win according to some rules. The third one is rather new, the battle royale game. The most famous ones are PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite, both released in 2017. This genre blends exploratory, strategic and often shooting elements into a survival game with the last-man-standing rule to win. This type of games became so popular these days that a lot of big companies tried to make one battle royale game of their own. And the fourth one is the collectable card game. This type of game doesn’t come without any background, they tend to use the universe background of a well-established game, for example, Hearthstone used the settings from World of warcraft, and Gwent used the settings from The Witcher. There are also others types of online games, but these four are the most popular ones. 

And it isn’t all limited to the PC platform. This trend of cross-platform is on the rise for the last decade. For example, Fortnite, Hearthstone, Minecraft, Among Us, are all on several different platforms like mobile, PC, and console. And some popular games also begin to move to mobile, like League of Legends wild rift and the PUBG mobile. All those companies trying to get to the tiny screen of a smartphone, are trying to hurt our eyes with those tiny objects. In fact, it’s because there are huge benefits from the mobile platform for game companies. Because of the high hold rate of the smartphone, it will be easier for game companies to reach out to new players. And going from different platform diminished the barrier of playing games so that people will be more immersed and have a more holistic experience of the video game. And it is always easier to pay by phone rather than on a computer, so the revenue will be higher. Very importantly, there are more female players involved comparing to the computer or the console. All these benefits drive game companies to look into the mobile game market. 

But how do online games differ from the well-established offline games, except that online games require the internet? Online games normally do a lot of beta-testing before the official release, and after its release, they will have regular update and maintenance, so online games are always a work in progress. This is to keep the game fresh and able to keep the old players and attract new players. Compared to the one-time purchase of offline games, online games have a lot of different monetization methods. And this gives online companies a healthy cash flow. Because online games involve other players, this gives the video game a social function, but the interaction between players is not always harmonious, and this disharmony may affect the gameplay a lot. Another big difference is that online games made eSport possible, so people can compete together. 

1. Revenue Models of online games 
2. Subscription model 

There are several different ways of monetization. First, it’s the subscription model. It is more used by the platforms rather than actual games, for all the consoles, they have this subscription for online gaming services, without this, the player can’t play online games. And they also tried to give out free games or exclusive content to the subscriber, for example, Playstation Plus often gives out free games so its subscription fee is higher than Nintendo or Xbox. And now a lot of companies are looking into Game on Demand, streaming game or Cloud game, it works like the OTT platform of movies and series, so these platforms took the same revenue model as those OTT platforms. The price differs according to its offer of the game and the speed etc. But some games use this subscription model, even just a few. World of Warcraft is using this model, so in France, it's 12€99 for a month, normally games that use the subscription model will not have extra payment, so everything you can invest is your time. And in this game, there will not be the phenomenon of “pay to win” which means pay to buy items that will greatly change your gameplay and make it easier to win. This model is quite used by the platform but for games, it’s now outdated, and it doesn’t make as much revenue as the microtransaction. 

1. Microtransaction: Premium currency and skins, avatars… 

There are several types of microtransaction. To begin with, some games need to be bought to play and then to buy more through microtransaction, this type of game we call it pay-mum. Another type is free to play (F2P), but microtransaction is possible for updates, this is called freemium. The first one is a direct in-game purchase, you go into the store in-game and pay for items. And there are some major differences for those items depending on different games. The first type is the items that won’t change the gameplay or the result of each game, they are the skins, champions, avatars etc, they possess more of an aesthetic function, so people can feel good or show off. For example, in League of legends, people can pay for the champion but you can also buy it with soft currency earned in-game. Once you have this champion, then you can pay for some new skins of the character. These skins won’t give any benefits except for psychological fulfilment. However, in some games, there are ways to make a difference with your real money. For example, in Clash of Clans, people can buy the premium currency and then with the premium currency buy some upgraded items or weapon to better guarantee success. This pay to win is very common in earlier years but began to lose its place because players don’t like to play a game where pay to win is possible and encouraged. 

1. Microtransaction: DLCs and season pass 

Other microtransaction types are the DLCs and season pass. DLCs for online games normally consist of a new character to use or new skin to wear. But without the DLCs, players can still enjoy the game without a loss. And season pass is a bundle that contains a given period of time, all DLCs coming out during this time will be given to the players who buy. It allows players to have early access to some content, and some of the content might be exclusive. The first game that uses this model is L.A. Noire by Rockstar game, which is also the developer of GTA and Red Dead Redemption. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six by Ubisoft is using part of this model too. 

1. Microtransaction: Loot boxes and Battle pass 

Nowadays there is one type of microtransaction that is becoming very popular. These are the loot boxes, which is like micro-gambling. The Player buy the box and open it to get the random item with a different value. This blind box is used by almost every collectable card games. And some other games use this too like Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, etc. Another popular monetising method is the battle pass. It gives the buyer the right to obtain the virtual item which will be more valuable and expensive than the battle pass. But Battle pass requires the player to invest a lot of time in playing the game, the more you play, the better you will be awarded. In both CS: GO and Fortnite, they used this battle pass. Another pro of battle pass came with all that time invested by players, because in online gaming, the more time the players invest in a game, the more likely they will spend a lot of money on the other microtransaction of the game. 

1. Ads based F2P Games 

The last one is rather new and very specific. This is called the F2P model based on advertising. It has no entrance fee, so the player doesn’t need to pay to play. At several points of the game, normally like when you open or when you finished one round, you will have to watch an ad of about 30 seconds. Of course, you can pay to remove all the advertisement, but a lot of people don’t, so the company get the money from the ads instead. Normally these games are hyper-casual games on smartphone, whose rules are super easy to understand, and it’s not hard to control. These games don’t cost a lot to produce but the revenue from advertising is rather big, so there are a lot of small games that use this model.  

Shashwath Malli – Online Gaming in India and its Growing Influence in the World 

This article covers video gaming in India and is an emerging market where investments continue to rise, the market is expected to grow rapidly here. The country is one of the top five mobile gaming markets in the world in terms of the number of users. Online gaming in India is estimated at US$870 million markets with 300 million gamers. The article covers the evolution of the industry with an increase in consumption as its monetisation value raises. 

Evolution of Industry : 

In 2005, Level Up Games based out of Singapore becomes the first gaming distribution company in India. The company were the first to distribute AAA games for customers in India. In 2006 Ragnarok online and spiffy from South Korea set up their distribution base in India for AAA games. However, it was in 2009 that Facebook introduced online games like Farmville and Mafia wars it brought millions of users to online gaming. All these users were first time players in the multiplayer arena. In India the average gamer is introduced to online gaming through their friends, family and peer, it is seen mainly for stress relief and social interaction. Puzzle, action and adventure games are most popular among the users. It is known that the majority of gamers will continue to play their favourite games on mobile device. The market is moving towards reducing disparity in gender and age group for online gamers. The current scenario is heading towards value-driven consumption with an increased focus on local development. 

Executive Summary –An overview of the online gaming market in India 

The arrival of India’s online gaming industry began during the early 2000s when console and PC gaming brought several middle-income group Indians on digital gaming platforms. During the mid-2000s, online gaming was largely in the form of social games. This adoption was facilitated primarily through global games by international developers. Indian development ecosystem acted primarily as service providers for international developers. Since then, India has been a volume-based story enabled by a rise in internet penetration and an increase in smartphone user base.  

The online gaming market realized impressive volumes with 120 million online gamer(s) and the market value estimated at ~ 290 million USD in 2016. The key driver of the market volume was a proliferation of low-cost smartphones amongst the urban and rural population. The monetisation is realized through revenue streams like in-app purchase, pay per download, subscription service etc. by gamer(s) and in-app advertisement, incentive-based advertisement etc. by the ecosystem. Today, monetisation is dominated by advertisers and publishers.  

However, challenges like limited local games development and gamer(s) monetisation are still restraining the high potential. In recent years, the local internet ecosystem has initiated the course correction by the end to end local game development and adoption of digital payment solutions. 

Post-2010: Rise in consumption volumes. Monetisation to catch up 

2010-2016: Between 2010 and 2016, smartphones became the primary mode of internet usage, enabled by increased internet penetration and volume of budget devices. This rise in internet and mobile volumes has contributed significantly to the evolution of online gaming consumption in India. However, the ARPU for the gamer(s) remained at fractions of the developing and developed global counterparts. 

The development ecosystem has evolved in line with the exponential growth of consumption. During this period, the number of Indian gaming companies reached ~250 and started launching their titles. A few of these games successfully featured among the top 10 downloaded and record grossing games, a list dominated by global companies so far. However, investments in gaming companies continued to remain low.  

In the recent past, India has seen large in-roads of online entertainment with global online video companies entering the market. These companies have contributed significantly to Indian consumption and spend behaviour. Consumers are steadily gaining confidence to adopt digital payments and online content for entertainment services. Increased trust and perceived value of online entertainment are likely to provide the necessary impetus to online gaming going forward.  

Indian developers have seen an influx of investments and this is expected to improve further. Motivated with the evolved consumption, latent potential, sufficient capital and skilled manpower, Indian developers are expected to focus on the local market. The focus in the near term will continue to be on developing games for mobile devices. 

Understanding Indian Gamers: 

Young internet users have a higher propensity to play online games. Nearly 60 per cent of urban mobile gamer(s) are below 24 years. These gamer(s) are usually more exposed to technology and online platforms. 

However, acceptance of online gaming is considerably high among higher age groups. Experienced professionals and home-makers have a similar likelihood to play online games as the young population. Their representation among online gamer(s) could be a result of skewed internet across age groups in India.  

Gender distribution of online gamer(s) is skewed with 83 per cent of online gamer(s) being male. This is mainly on account of uneven gender distribution among urban internet users with 80 per cent of users being male. Thus gender distribution for online games, despite being skewed indicates a similar propensity for online gaming across genders. 

The most common reason for internet users to begin online gaming is the influence of their peer group, directly or indirectly. For ~47 per cent of the gamer(s) surveyed by Nielsen; a moment of truth for online gaming was watching peer group play or word-of-mouth reference. Playing for recreation/ time-utilisation is the second most common reason for initiating online gaming.  

The gamer(s) are engaged because they perceive online gaming to assist in stress relief and also provide social interaction opportunities in the virtual world. 

Enhanced customer lifecycle at every stage: Power of Data 

Discovery and evaluation: - Marketing: With the influx of a gaming base, comprehensive data capture and smarter technologies, the effectiveness and relevance of online marketing will improve - Transparency and credibility: App distribution platforms are poised to facilitate informed decision making by providing access to description, developer history, demos, videos, reviews and online community to customers: 

• Adoption and learning: - Payment and customer support: Payment technologies customized for the Indian market and dedicated customer support will be a key for distributors and developers to improve volumes (downloads) and value (payments) - Learning centre: Similar to developed gaming markets, video tutorials and learning centres will see in-roads in India. Games involving high stakes and investment will lead the way in the adoption of learning centres.  
• Engagement: - Real-time tracking: In-game data analytics will play a large role in enhancing the customer experience and in-game monetisation - Social capital: Online games will integrate with chat applications to enhance the perceived value of gameplay. 
• Drop out: - Feedback and marketing: Recognition of the lapsed user base through feedback surveys and re-activation through customized marketing of new games will contribute to the adoption of online gaming.