Krafton India Requests Government Assistance to Advance Online Gaming
On Thursday, Krafton India, the creators of the widely played online game BGMI, called for government assistance in boosting the growth of the online gaming sector in the nation.
Sean Hyunil Sohn, Managing Director of Krafto India, highlighted the subsidies provided by countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Canada to game companies for labor costs and stated that the country can find innovative ways to promote the industry.
“The data actually shows how governments around the world see gaming as one of the future growth drivers for job creation… we all know that India needs more tax revenue to develop the country, but at the same time, I hope that the Indian government can find creative ways to promote the industry,” he said. speaking at the CII event on digital gaming here.
The GST Council has imposed a tax of 28 percent on the full face value of bets placed on online games, which will be implemented from October 1 and the tax will be revised six months after its implementation.
India’s cheap internet and mobile penetration is growing gaming in India and creating opportunities for gaming companies, Sean said, highlighting the “unique advantage” Indian gamers have of being mobile-native, unlike their Western counterparts who switched to smartphone gaming from consoles and PCs. and arcade games.
“There are now 500 million Indian gamers and around 100 million real gamers, which is not as big as China or South Korea, but considering the very cheap price of mobile internet and the widespread use of smartphones, I believe the number of gamers will grow very quickly and. .. opens up more opportunities for gaming companies like ours,” he said.
He said the Indian market is “quite large” for top games like BGMI and “heavily skewed” to top players compared to other gaming markets. However, the diversification and development of the gaming industry will lead to more players, he estimates.
TheKrafton India CEO also spoke about the company’s investment in Gurugram-based Nodwin Gaming, saying “90 percent of Nodwin’s revenue comes through mobile eSports gaming events.”
He said the gaming industry has grown from a small sector of the entertainment market to “about 80 percent of the movie and video game industries combined.”
Prosenjit Ghosh, head of SONY India’s national PlayStation division, said gaming is becoming a mainstream form of entertainment “almost similar to other mainstream entertainment in India like cricket or movies”.
