Meta is one of the most relied-upon companies in the world at this point. The company owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads, amongst others. When they have a global outage, hundreds of millions of people feel the effects. The wildly successful company isn’t only here for social media, though. At one point, Facebook was a hub for browser gaming.
In 2025, Meta will continue to pursue having an enhanced place in the global gaming industry. Seemingly, their strategy takes them straight through India. India’s large population and rapid adoption of smartphones and game apps offer a huge amount of potential. Looking at the current state of the market, Meta’s insights, and some industry trends, we can see why the company is so enthusiastic.
Meta sees a lot of scope in India
The world of tech has become incredibly competitive since the early days of Meta. When they were Facebook, few tech companies could rival their might. Now, there are many competitors and even many social media platforms that rival or outright outpace their flagship platforms. In pursuit of further profits and growth, Meta has had to explore new avenues. This leads them to India’s doorstep.
Having delved into the numbers, Meta has decided that it’s crucial to invest in India’s gaming brands to help them grow. Amongst their key insights from the study, Meta found that six in ten players of smartphone games do so daily. Further, 90% of all respondents were either casual or real-money gamers. Already, the company’s platforms have proven to be important drivers of new game discovery within the nation’s player base.
Still, to unleash the power of the market, investment is needed. Vice President and Head of India at Meta, Sandhya Devanathan, sees $1 trillion of the future $8 trillion Indian economy being down to the digital sector. Gaming will play a big part in that. They see gaming as already being entrenched in everyday life. Looking at other facets of the activity, it’s easy to see where this claim comes from.
You can go much more broad and take the board gaming sector, for example. By 2026, this market is expected to hit a value of $11.4 billion, which shows continued growth of over eight per cent since 2020. Elsewhere, other forms of gaming entertainment continue to pick up speed. Owing to the level of competition, quality of products, and introduction of India-specific ratings and review sites, the best online gambling sites now boast many players.
Recognizing the state of play in India, the focus has been on homing in on the most reputable platforms. From here, those with strong reputations are graded on their total offerings. Welcome offers, game variety, and loyalty promotions have all been amped up in recent years. This is almost entirely down to how popular the sector has become and the need to compete against top brands. It’s another side of gaming that India now revels in.
Ready to delve into new technologies
The arrival of gaming as a major part of entertainment in India is greatly down to the enhanced accessibility of smartphones. The stacked app stores have provided millions of people with convenient and accessible forms of gaming. In the past, PC gaming and especially console gaming barely registered a footprint. Now, with internet speeds on the rise and the cost of gaming laptops sinking, both can experience a resurgence.
A big reveal from Meta’s research – which may be skewed given the stake the company has in these technologies – was the interest in new gaming-associated tech. Most casual gamers are very interested in augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence in gaming. Meta has invested an inordinate sum of over $10 billion in one year alone to try to create its Metaverse. The company also continues to try to push VR through its Oculus range.
The other caveat is that, while many may be interested in such tech, being able to access them is another question entirely. Virtual reality gear and the new augmented reality or XR hardware put out by the likes of Apple are very much premium products. They’re niche in markets like Western Europe and North America because of their entry price marks and relative lack of desirable associated games and experiences that’d validate such prices.
Meta has worked on bringing down the price mark of its Oculus range. By the looks of it, the company will invest further in India’s gaming tech sectors. Potentially, this will help to lead them to an accessible pathway into VR for the colossal gaming audience of India. We’ll have to wait and see how the company plans to make a splash in India.
