The Indian Gaming Show: Hosted by CII From Feb 2-5, 2017 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

According to Newzoo, a research firm, in 2016 alone, the Video Game Industry which generated a whopping $99.6 billion revenue and this giant is expected to grow at a rate of 6.6% over the coming years. With millions dabbling with video games as leisure activities as well as the rise of eSports in the recent years, video games is definitely changing the outlook of the global society.

The Indian video game industry is in its nascent stages, but it is definitely learning from the mistakes of its international brethren. With the more than 65% of its population clocking between the ages of 25 to 35, India has the world’s largest youth population. The recent years have seen a precedent rise in Internet connectivity and usage, thereby turning the country into the second largest Internet user globally. In fact, these are the two crucial factors for any video game to take off, and thus we can say that India has arrived at the right time. To add on these factors, India also has a large skill pool to offer in the fields of IT, Game Testing, Arts and Designing as well as the presence of several major game developers such as Zynga, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nvidia, Sony, to list a few.

Previously, considered as a bootless errand, the negative notions surrounding video games is steadily disappearing in India. Nowadays, be it the dada and dadis playing Candy Crush on their battered smartphone in the local metro or maybe those kids next door who play GTA V on their state-ofthe-art gaming rigs, everyone has embraced the gaming revolution.

NASSCOM, a leading IT analyst in the country, stated in a report that India is home to over 70 million gamers spread across the mobile, console and PC platforms. The Indian gaming market has caught the attention of several international brands. Leading gaming peripheral manufacturers and service providers such as ASUS, HyperX, Sony, Twitch.tv, Microsoft amongst many others have witnessed a stark increase in the sales and viewership over the past few years. These international leaders have also played a major role in brewing the Indian gaming market by sponsoring many local tournaments and events.

Keeping up with the times as well as catering to the needs of a young, vibrant country, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has taken note of this sector. Historically, CII has been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of crucial market policies and innovation, which in turn contribute to the greater well-being of the country. Making good on its 2016-17 initiative of ‘Building National Competitiveness, CII has announced the Indian Gaming Show 2017. This event, a one-of-its-kind in India, will take place from February 2 to 5 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. This 4-day expo will cover the A-Z of the video game industry as well as explore the new emerging trends such as eSports, cosplay and VR.

Supported by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, the event will act as a platform and will host video game delegations from several countries. Leading this foray shall be Japan who is also the lead partner for this event. The Republic of Korea will be an honoured guest, but also lending its expertise in this field are the delegations arriving from USA, UK, Poland, Germany amongst many others.