Gaming

India’s Mobile Gaming Boom: All Play, No Pay?

Sohini Mitter

June 27, 2025 | 5 Min Read

Indians downloaded a staggering 8.45 billion mobile games in FY25, but generated in-app revenues of only $400 million. The country has more than half a billion gamers today, but monetisation remains a challenge. Homegrown game publishers are now looking overseas to extract more revenue per user.

India isn’t just playing mobile games—it is dominating that universe.

With a jaw-dropping 8.45 billion game downloads in FY25, India is the world’s leading mobile gaming market by volume yet again. This, despite total app installs dipping 8.7% over the past year—an indication of a maturing market, where users are more selective about titles.

India’s game downloads were more than double Indonesia’s 3.34 billion, which ranked a distant second, and more than 5x the Philippines’ downloads, which stood at third, according to app intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

What’s driving the country’s consistent mobile gaming boom?

Affordable smartphones, inexpensive mobile data, and a gaming-hungry Gen Z and young millennial population, where an overwhelming 77% of mobile gamers fall in the age bracket of 18–34. Significant growth drivers, all of them.

But there’s a downside: while game downloads are going through the roof, monetisation remains an Achilles heel in the Indian market.

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