Social media, reels & influencers drive Indian gamers to discover & purchase new games: Meta X GWI Study

The study highlights the increasing popularity of gaming in non-metro areas, with almost half of casual gamers and 43% of real-money gamers hailing from these regions.

Meta held its inaugural Gaming Summit in India to mark the rising importance of the sector, which is also among the top three business verticals for Meta. The company unveiled key consumer findings from a Meta-commissioned study by GWI focused on gaming.

Among the key findings, the study calls out the rising prevalence of gaming in India with nearly half of casual gamers and 43% of real-money gamers coming from non-metro geographies. The study also called out Reels, video ads on Meta and influencers as top drivers for gamers to discover and purchase new games.

“Gaming is a top three vertical for Meta globally and we’re particularly seeing our Advantage+ suite of automated ads drive growth for gaming brands. Equally, as the study reveals, Meta is a leading channel for gamers to discover and purchase new games. Gaming is poised to play a leading role in India’s techade, and we’re thrilled to enable growth opportunities for gaming businesses at different stages of their journey,” said Arun Srinivas, director and head (India), Ads Business, Meta.

The summit was attended by big gaming brands that shed light on the use of innovative cutting-edge technologies such as AI that has helped them drive growth for their business. They also highlighted the top trends shaping the gaming industry in India right now.

The Meta GWI study showed that more than three out of four casual and real money gamers in India discover new games to play and purchase on social media, and more than 90% of these do so on the Meta platforms.

Vikrant Mudaliar, chief marketing officer, Dream Sports, added, “As a brand that puts innovation and experimentation first, we were keen to use Meta’s Advantage+ App campaigns. With the help of this automated solution, our customer acquisition cost (CAC) improved by 12%. Today, the majority of our users come from outside the tier-1 and 2 cities and Meta has played a key role in helping us reach sports fans across the country. One of our deepest partnerships was during the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 during which we prioritized the testing of new products and measurement. Meta’s marketing science teams helped us measure incremental performance and gave us confidence in running campaigns at scale- that’s the strategy we envision ourselves using for the upcoming IPL 2024 as well.”

“From using AI-powered Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, partnership ads, and influencer-led creatives that together drove a 123% increase in installs volume along with a 15% decrease in the Cost Per First Time Transaction. We have exciting plans ahead, and we will partner closely with Meta and use new cutting-edge solutions that help us deliver business outcomes in a rapidly evolving ecosystem,” said Jaskaran Singh, AVP growth, Baazi Games.

Key Insights from the Meta-Commissioned Study by GWI on gaming:

• The study revealed that 6 in 10 smartphone gamers game daily, and almost 90% of real-money gamers play real-money games at least weekly. The study also showed that nearly half of casual gamers and 43% of Real-money gamers come from non-metro geographies.

• Meta plays a crucial role in helping gamers discover and purchase new games. More than three out of four casual and real money gamers in India discover new games to play and purchase on social media, and more than 90% of these do so on the Meta platforms, as per the study. Reels, ads, and influencers play a leading role in driving this discovery.

• The festive season and sporting events impact the types of games played, according to the study. 88% say they’re more likely to switch from playing other real-money games to playing fantasy sports games during tentpole sporting events such as IPL and World Cup.

• Artificial intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) are the top three gaming technologies that most interest casual gamers in India.