India - An emerging market for gaming industry

India is emerging as one of the most desired destination for gamers not just in mobile segment but also Internet and console gaming. With 213 million mobile internet users which are growing at the rate of 32% annually, India represents one of the fastest growing countries in the mobile market today. This is largely because of the growing young population and high disposable income.

The prospects in the game development industry are huge. Games are used in marketing firms, educational organizations, to improve the IQ, etc. However, there is dearth of right talent in the market today. According to Mr Surya, founder of Hyderabad based ‘Backstage Pass Institute of Gaming & Technology ‘, gaming industry is finding it difficult to fill vacant positions because of the shortage in Game developers and designers in India. There are many passionate youngsters but not many institutes that offer inclusive game development training program to students.

There is no age bar to start a career in the field of gaming but the right type of qualification is a necessity. To be a game developer, one needs to have the right skill set which one can obtain through a degree or diploma in game design courses.

According to Mr Surya, earlier game development firms were employing graduates and then providing them on-the-job training on gaming for a year. However, this resulted in huge losses for them because of the high turnover rate. Now, companies want professionals who are trained. “We associate with game companies and provide employment for our students who are trained as game designers and developers” he says.

Hyderabad based Gaming firm YesGnome has been associated with backstage Pass for several years now. Sridhar Muppidi, CEO of YesGnome says “Backstage Pass has certain quality and their courses are amazing. We don’t need to wait till end of the year to be able to get students from them. We can get them right in the middle because they are so good”

To identify talent in the gaming industry, various colleges organize competitions in India and abroad. Recently, students from Backstage Pass emerged as runners up in the National Finals of Microsoft Imagine Cup India 2015. The team is heading to Singapore on May 19th to participate in Casual Connect Asia 2015 where they will be showcasing the winning game Picto for the ‘Indie Prize Awards’.

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