Hyderabad puts on its game face

HYDERABAD: When it hit the market in August 2019,

Hitwicket SuperStars

achieved more than just 1,30,000 downloads in 48 hours. It shattered gender stereotypes by featuring women players in a cricket game for the first time and sealed Hyderabad’s place as a rising

gaming

destination of the world. Back home in India, it joined the league of Bengaluru and Pune – the crème de la crème of this Rs 350 crore-worth industry.

“The game caught massive international attention with 30% of our current users being based in the UK, the US, Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” said Keerti Singh, co-founder and VP (operations) of the city-based startup, Hitwicket. Launched in 2015, along with her friend Kashyap Reddy, this artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven gaming firm is among 150 companies, VFX studios, and academies that have compelled gamers globally to sit up and take note of Hyderabad.

US-based industry leader in games and interactive media solutions, Pole to Win International (PTW) recently announced that it will expand its base in the city, where it first set foot in 2016. It’s also planning to increase its workforce here, over the next four years. “We trained a team of gamers in Hyderabad last year who represented India on the international circuit at our first

PUBG

tournament in Milan. This was under our new esports team name – Orange Rock Esports,” said a company official from the city.

Today, Hyderabad has about 300 big and small successful games under its belt, with 100 (approx) more in the pipeline. Official data indicates that close to Rs 200 crore-worth of gaming content for India and outside is being developed in Hyderabad. Industry pundits say that the city will draw over Rs 700 crore in the next three years with a string of international players eyeing local market. The resource pool, too, may increase with a lot of local talent joining the industry that offers annual salaries between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 40 lakh.

“A lot of independent studios are also coming up in Hyderabad. The surge has been evident in the last few years. And this because Hyderabad is a big game consumer market,” said Chaitanya G, founder and CEO of Chennai based-Playtonia that conducts leagues across the world for popular e-sports like

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

, FIFA 2019 and PUBG Mobile.

Apart from new-age computers, mobiles, and high-speed internet that are propelling the growth of the gaming industry everywhere, what’s working for Hyderabad is the number of engineering institutes training students in coding, thereby attracting students towards the development of apps, say experts.

“The number of game developers in the state is expected to rise 10-fold in the next five years. There is huge demand for vernacular content in gaming, animation and VFX and games are being developed keeping the local audience and themes specific to our country in mind,” said Rajiv Chilaka, president Cricket, TVAGA (Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming Association).

“Cricket, games with mythological backdrops, those revolving around mental health and puzzles to stimulate the mind are some of the popular themes developed in Hyderabad,” he added. TVAGA is a non-profit association of the media & entertainment industry in Telangana, working in collaboration with the state government.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, Location Guesser and Mini Crossword. Spread love this holiday season with these Christmas wishes, messages, and quotes.