Valorant and Fortnite lead India's online gaming chatter, BGMI follows close behind

Mobile gaming in India is on the rise. However, surprisingly, PC game titles like Fortnite and Valorant are the most talked-about games on social media platforms, with Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) ranking third in gaming-related conversations.

Sprinklr Insights which uses AI to gather and analyze social conversations across various news outlets and social media platforms states that the social media platform X has emerged as the most popular platform for gaming discussions, with approximately 2.52 million gaming-related conversations on social media since January 2021.

India's video games market generated revenue of $830 million in 2023, up 15.9 percent year-over-year (YoY), slightly down from the 19 percent growth seen in 2022, according to Niko Partners. The market is expected to grow by 13.6 percent in 2024, with revenue projected to reach $943 million, surpassing $1 billion in 2025, and forecasted to hit $1.4 billion in 2028, with a five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.1 percent.

As per the report, mobile games will continue to dominate the Indian gaming market, accounting for 77.9 percent of total revenue, followed by PC games at 14.5 percent and console games at 7.7 percent.

Sprinklr Insights also reported that there were 2.52 million conversations on X about #gaming since January 2021 which reached a phenomenal 143.57 billion impressions. However, social media chatter around gaming has experienced interesting fluctuations over the years.

In 2021, gaming conversations peaked with 1.8 million engagements stemming from 136.85K discussions on social media, likely due to the increased popularity of mobile gaming and social restrictions during the pandemic.

In 2022, there was a noticeable dip, with 106.8K users participating in 1.32 million conversations, possibly due to market saturation, consumer fatigue, or a return to pre-pandemic routines. Interestingly, 2023 saw a rebound in gaming chatter, with 130.7K conversations and 1.56 million engagements, possibly due to new game releases or a resurgence in interest.

So far, 2024 has shown a steady continuation of this upward trend, with even more engagement around the gaming hashtag, totaling 1.64 million. This suggests ongoing interest in gaming and a stable presence in social media conversations.

According to Sprinklr Insights, PC game titles, particularly Fortnite and Valorant, continue to dominate online gaming chatter, with Valorant's tactical shooter gameplay garnering significant attention in second place. Meanwhile, the mobile game BGMI, with its localized content and familiar gameplay, holds the third spot in online gaming discussions.

In terms of social media chatter about top gaming streamers in India, Tanmay Singh, also known as 'sc0utOP' is topping the charts in social media mentions, closely followed by Ankit ‘v3nom’ Panth.