Are brand integrations within video games picking up in India?

Brand integrations within gameplay have been around for quite a while internationally, but not in India. Industry heads discuss in-game advertising and its scope in the country.

Gaming has been on the rise in India, lately. Owing to the comparative ease of accessibility for smartphones, people generally take to their phones for games. According to the Indian Gaming Report 2021-22, the country has the largest pool of mobile gamers (507 million) in the world. This number is expected to grow to 700 million by 2025, the report added. 

When one indulges in popular games like ‘Call of Duty Mobile’ or ‘Asphalt’, they may encounter some brand presence within the gameplay. Now, most gamers spend between one and two hours on each session, a Rakuten Insight report found in April 2022. Hence, they might interact with the brands throughout their game play.

Gameloft, a leading video game publisher, recently came out with a report, titled ‘Marketing ROI in gaming’. It highlights how brand integrations within gameplay provide “the perfect moment” (for brands) to attract a user’s attention. The report suggests that the purchase intent in in-game advertising is 23% more than any marketing messaging the users are exposed to for more than 15 seconds.

Nitin Goel, country manager - Indian sub-continent, Gameloft, shares that though the analysis was carried on data pertaining to countries in Europe and North America, but the results can be inferred to be the case for India as well.

He believes that the medium is relatively new in India and its understanding has been limited to the stakeholders, i.e., brand managers and media buyers. 

"The future of Gaming as a media in India is going to be significant. But we do have some distance to cover to make the brands understand the nuances. We’ve seen brand interest increasing, but the conversion rate is still low. The core issue that we’ve identified is that gaming has to move from being at the fringe of the marketing mix to its core. At the moment, we’re seeing brands coming in to seek opportunities quite late. So, not much can be done by that time.”

Gameloft’s more significant in-game integrations in India, has been TVS' Apache RR 310 in the racing game ‘Asphalt’. Goel acknowledges that the TVS project has been a big stepping stone for Gameloft in India.

Vimal Sumbly, head business - premium, TVS Motor Company, states that the aim of the integration was to provide an additional medium for the company to engage with motorcycle enthusiasts, when they’re off their bikes. The brand expects to build awareness in newer geographies, through this engagement.

Sumbly says that TVS recorded participation of over 2 million players, who raced on the Apache RR 310 motorcycle in the game. Over 7 million races have been played on the Ultimate Track Weapon. 

The players can customise their motorcycles with a host of colour options. They can upgrade their motorcycle’s top speed, acceleration, handling and nitro boost, similar to India’s first factory-built customisation platform of TVS Built to Order (BTO). Here, the consumers have the option of enhancing the performance of their vehicle through customisation.

“In our continued efforts to delight the consumers and deliver the experience of racing, we’ve added another touch point of gaming to our gamut, with the launch of the Ultimate Track Weapon, the TVS Apache RR 310 in the ‘Asphalt 8 Airborne’. With the growing interest in gaming, amidst the target audience, this integration helps TVS Apache deliver a new platform for racing enthusiasts to unleash their racing DNA.”

Beyond the game, the integration has helped TVS enhance brand’s traction amongst their ‘gamer’ audience cohort. Sumbly mentions that the brand witnessed this traction through their campaign’s brand lift studies.

The company plans to further its visibility in games. “With initiatives like these, TVS Apache continues to demonstrate its focus on bringing innovative platforms to connect with the customers. We will be able to share more information about our upcoming in-game integrations at an opportune time.”

Home-grown gaming publishers’ outlook to in-game advertising

For India, Gameloft roughly has 30 percent of its business across rich media/native. “With the kind of interests that we are witnessing, we are hoping it will only grow. One challenge, however, remains in terms of budgets given such native integrations come at bigger outlays. What we really look forward to is the strategic intent of the brands and how important they view such integrations to the core of their marketing objectives. Once brands are clearer, we expect to have the budgetary hurdle being crossed over as well,” Goel adds.

The story for gaming publishers native to India and operating in casual gaming is different. GoLive Games, casual and mid-core strategy game publisher, plans to rely heavily on brand integrations for its revenue generation. 

Ravi Kiran, founder and CEO, GoLive Games, says that for Indian games, the in-app purchases and viewership for ads, are low. Hence, brand integrations are valuable. The company expects about 80% of its total revenue to come from brand integrations.  

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“There are two facets of in-game advertising. One is integrating brands in gameplay itself. For GoLive, you may see a brand making a presence on the cricket field. Second, we’re seeing an increase in brand integrations for esports tournaments. Brands are present in gameplay, they engage in title sponsorship for tournaments and sponsor awards that are handed out to winners,” Kiran informs.

Rahul Singh, co-founder, Bowled.io, shares that the company is integrating brands in in-game assets that it offers. These include stadium cards, accessories, etc., along with game enhancing assets. 

“The ‘Redbull aggression’ card is one gaming asset where a major brand has come in. This card gives the batsman an aggressive gameplay. Currently, we’re in conversations with Airtel, CRED, among other brands, to partake in in-game assets. Hopefully, we will see a few more brands by the end of the year, and the ad revenue from such integrations, will make up about 30% of our total revenue,” Singh adds. 

Given the significance of India in the gaming market, California-based in-game advertising solutions provider Frameplay entered the domestic market, in partnership with gaming marketing and gametech platform GameStack, last month. 

Amy Venier, SVP - partnerships, Frameplay, shares that cricket video games see the highest engagement in India, and the company is currently pursuing partnerships with several gaming studios in the country. 

On how the company is developing a connection with brand advertisers, she says, “In-game advertising has been around for about two decades. However, gaming has now developed into a media channel. As a channel, it offers more scalability, RoI and measurements for brands.”

Sumit Batheja, executive director and co-founder, GameStack, adds that the company is now working on developing ways to educate brands about the benefits of in-game advertising, with its Frameplay partnership.