Paytm’s efforts diversifying into diverse segments of business continues. The latest is the parent company One97 Communications making an investment of $16 million in a Hong Kong-based game developing company, Gamepind Entertainment Private Limited and the company behind Gamepind is AGTech.
It will be a joint venture between One97 and AGTech and in recognition of the investment made by Paytm, Gamepind’s operation will now be headed by Sudanshu Gupta from Paytm. The main objective of this joint venture is to develop games that could be run from within the Paytm app, as an added incentive to its customers.
There may be other offerings beyond just the games as well. Paytm will extend its business model of rewarding its customers by having rewards and offers on those choosing to play the games from out of its platform. Gamers can hope to reap rich dividends by playing the games of different genre developed by Gamepind for Paytm customers exclusively.
There are expectations that the mobile gaming business is quite lucrative and if these games can be localized to suit the Indian market, there is a huge scope for both eyeballs as well as building revenue streams through advertisements. Those customers who wish to play the games without the ads pay a nominal sum as subscription and this is another revenue stream.
While Paytm has succeeded in floating this JV egged on by marquee investors Alibaba and Tencent, there are other gaming companies in India who have developed games and are finding success. Nazara Technologies is one such company which has not only found success in India but is now seriously entering other countries as well.
Other ventures into mobile gaming include Smaaash, Mech Mocha and Hypernova Interactive. It is reported that India has a total of 250 gaming startups. Presumably, the high proportion if young population in the 18 to 35 years age group which also spends the maximum time on gaming in India has pushed these entrepreneurs into this segment. There’s rom for everyone. It is a highly competitive environment and only the fittest can survive.
From Paytm’s perspective, the variety of offerings it is already offering and is planning to add to its platform should result in better customer engagement and prepare it to face competition in the market.