The Mobile Premier League’s India Mobile Gaming Report 2022 revealed that Uttar Pradesh is the leading state for mobile gaming in India, followed by Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, and West Bengal. Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Himachal Pradesh saw the greatest increase in mobile gamers in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Popular games among Indian gamers include Ludo Dice, Snakes and Ladders, Carrom, Fruit Dart, Block Puzzle, and Poker. In Uttar Pradesh, the cities with the most gamers are Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, and Allahabad.
According to a report by Lumikai, a gaming-focused venture capital fund, India became the top country for mobile game consumption in the world, with over 15 billion downloads last year. The country’s gaming market was valued at $2.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year and is projected to reach $8.6 billion by 2027, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 27%.
Maharashtra, in the second position, has Pune as its top gaming city, with 20% more gamers than Mumbai, which is ranked second. Other cities in the top five include Thane, Nagpur, and Nashik. In Rajasthan, the capital city of Jaipur leads with over 200% more gamers than Jodhpur, which is in second place. Other cities in the top five include Udaipur, Alwar, and Kota.
The significant increase in the number of gamers in Bihar is driven by the popularity of mobile gaming in its capital city, Patna, as well as in the cities of Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Darbhanga, and Bhagalpur. The number of gamers in Patna is more than twice that of the combined total of the top four cities.
West Bengal is ranked fifth. Kolkata, Midnapore, Murshidabad, Howrah, and Darjeeling are the major gaming cities in the state, together representing over 30% of the state’s mobile gaming population, according to the India Mobile Gaming Report 2022 (IMGR 2022).
According to the India Mobile Gaming Report 2022, Odisha saw the highest growth in mobile gamers with a 55% increase, followed by Punjab with 53%, Tamil Nadu with 42%, Puducherry with 38%, and Himachal Pradesh with 23% on a year-over-year basis.
Odisha’s capital city, Bhubaneswar, recorded a 1,652% increase in the number of mobile gamers. Punjab, the second state with the highest growth in gamers, has Mohali as its best-performing city in India, registering a 7,130% increase in 2022 compared to 2021.
Other cities in Punjab that saw impressive growth in the number of mobile gamers include Malerkotla, Fazilka, Dinanagar, Beas, Shahkot and Samrala, according to the report.