Chennai: The Game Developer Association of India (GDAI) launched GameDev Outlook 2026, a report on the state of the country’s game development industry, at the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) here.
GDAI describes itself as India’s apex industry body for gaming. The report was developed with PhonePe Appstore as chief sponsor and The Dialogue as research partner.
According to GDAI, GameDev Outlook 2026 examines the structural challenges facing Indian game developers and sets out priorities for building globally competitive studios.
Drawing on a survey of industry and academia, the report identifies access to capital, publishing expertise, production capabilities and market access as critical enablers for studios that want to turn creative ideas into commercially viable games.
The report estimates that India’s video-game market generated US$1.04 billion in revenue in 2025, growing 14.8% year-on-year, and reached 511 million players.
Annual revenue per user stood at US$2.04, which GDAI says points to a gap between the country’s expanding player base and its monetisation potential.
The report also highlights an opportunity for Indian developers to move beyond domestic audience growth and build original intellectual property (IP) with international appeal. It notes that female participation is approaching half of the player base and that non-battle royale titles are gaining share in mobile revenue.
Among the key findings of GameDev Outlook 2026, 82.7% of surveyed studios name the launch of new game IP as a top priority.
That is ahead of entering international markets (49.0%) and raising capital or securing a publishing deal (38.5%). Some 75% identify capital or publishing investment as a barrier to growth, while 41.3% of industry submissions come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations.
GDAI said the report draws on a survey of 104 industry respondents and 13 academic institutions, along with in-depth stakeholder consultations. The findings are directional and reflect responses from participating organisations, and are not national estimates.
The report is co-sponsored by Gameberry Labs, NODWIN Gaming, Chimera VC and 1312 Interactive. It calls for closer collaboration between developers, investors, publishers and educational institutions.
GDAI noted that the report arrives alongside the Union Budget 2026-27 proposal to allocate INR 250 crore for Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges, which it described as critical to helping more studios progress from prototypes to market-ready releases and sustainable businesses.
Commenting on the launch of GameDev Outlook 2026, Sridhar Muppidi, Chairperson, Game Developer Association of India, said, “India’s biggest advantage in gaming is its young and diverse creative base with strong original-IP ambitions. With the player base reaching well beyond the metros, the young developers now need capital at every stage and education built around real team projects.
The Union Budget’s talent development allocation and GDAI Vision 2035 become fuel for a generation of Indian developers and artists to build games for the world.”
The report also looks at how gamers overlap with other app categories, which GDAI says can help developers improve their user acquisition strategies. According to the report, 40% of PhonePe Appstore users navigate in a regional language.
Its analysis finds that gamers are heavy consumers of non-gaming apps: midcore gamers lead in digital multi-homing across finance, travel and business apps, hardcore gamers anchor media and audio consumption, and casual gamers rely heavily on core utilities and shopping.
Priya Narasimhan, Chief Business Officer, PhonePe Appstore, said at the launch, “User acquisition remains a formidable hurdle for Indian developers, making the GameDev Outlook 2026 report’s insights into user behavior critical for building with precision.
At PhonePe Appstore, we are proud to partner with GDAI to solve the distribution side of this challenge. Our comprehensive digital goods marketplace empowers developers to distribute their apps and catalogues directly to a vast audience, driving sustainable scale.”
GameDev Outlook 2026 calls for coordinated action across financing, talent development, production, publishing and market access to help India build a stronger pipeline of globally competitive game studios, according to GDAI.
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