Gaming can be availed through gaming portals, online sites, e-commerce sites and retail shops. Gaming retail shops sell CDs and DVDs and also have both arcade and console gaming for the consumer to come and play at a reasonable amount. “The Indian consumer is bending more towards gaming as an entertainment option, making it on a par with cinema. Consoles are not just for gaming but also for net surfing, photograph storage, seeing videos, chatting online and much more, which convinces a family to buy it making gaming retail an upcoming business opportunity”, says Manish Gupta, Director, Origin Games.

There are many players like Blur at Chennai; The Living Room at Bangalore; Zapak has about 87 new gameplexes with its reach in 35 cities pan-India. New additions are BluO at Gurgaon, which has a bowling alley and an Xbox lounge; Origin Games has three stores in Mumbai and Games The Shop has just entered, making Indian gaming retail a proposition for tremendous opportunities.  Umesh Chauhan, Director, Zap India says “3D gaming in India is a kind of retail business which is persuading its customers in discovering entertainment activity as per their own choice.” Virtual gaming by Nintendo also attracts consumers a lot, not only the youngsters but the parents as well. It helps them with physical activities which kids nowadays do not do. All these factors make ‘gaming’ not just a normal industry but an industry, which has great potential in the near future. 

Statistical analysis

According to a Nasscom research, the global animation and gaming industry has shown approximately 37 per cent growth from USD 55 billion in 2005 to USD 75 billion in 2009, out of which, India is worth USD 950 million, which has grown 35 per cent from what it was in 2005, a mere USD 250 million. Anand Khemani, Company Head, Games The Shop says, “Generally growth in trends is noticed on a year-to-year basis, but gaming is the only industry in which trends should be caught on month-to-month basis.” 

Franchise opportunities

So, what are the technicalities to get into the gaming retail business? At a retail store, just for displaying the products you need to have 175-200 sq ft of space with an investment of Rs 15 lakh. For a game café or a playing arena you need a minimum of 1000-1500 sq ft of space with an investment of Rs 30-50 lakh. Gaming zones can be successful in residential areas, near institutes and hostels, both in and outside shopping malls and also in restaurants where people want to have good food and great time.

The franchise is responsible for managing and running the operations of the centre in line of the business policies and plans. The franchisor generally gives the training support to the franchisees as they are new to the business. “IT support, product information, sales, marketing and operations-SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) manual trainings are provided to the franchise periodically”, confirms Mr Arun Mehra, COO, Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd.

The predictable target group for gaming zones is thought to be youngsters from the age group of 10-25 years, but Deepak Gupta, Marketing Head at Origin Games, Mumbai, has a different point of view, “These types of centres not only attract the young generation but are also drawing a lot of attention of retired people as well.”

Tapping small cities

 All the big retail names have entered tier II and tier III cities to capture these virgin markets. So what about gaming retailers? “Tier II city consumers were depended on metro cities for many products, but with penetration of mobile, PC and first hand gaming machines. Now the market is coming up and can be explored in the cities like Surat, Pune, Ahemdabad, Nasik, etc,” says Mr Gupta.

Tackling competition

What better way to promote a gaming centre with tournaments? That is what Zapak does. It has a weekly tournament and runs a loyalty program for regular customers called ‘X-CALN’. “We are also planning to come up with a big national level tournament sometime in May 10, which would be league based tournament and run over 45 days. So the gameplexes across the country would have daily matches and a daily dose of fun and excitement”, assures Mr Mehra.

A future game zone owner should also know that nowadays people do not go for anything but best. “People who work here are as important as what is on display. Indian consumers know very less about gaming, so a knowledgeable staff is what adds to the stores’ success. They are able to tell you what game is best for you according to your age and temperament, which makes playing a whole new experience,” says Mr Khemani.          

In a Glance

Zapak Digital

Starting year: 25th November, 2006

Number of outlets:

Zapak Gameplexes - There are 87 gameplexes present in 35 cities pan India.

Zapak Games: Zapak Games, the licensing & merchandising arm of Zapak, has created one of India’s largest retail distribution network with presence in over 5000 retail outlets across 100 cities all across India.

Growth expectation: Zapak is planning to have about 300 Gameplexes all across the country in a year’s time.

Blur

Starting year: November 7th, 2008

Number of outlets: One outlet, located on level 4, 5 & 6 at the Sathyam Cinemas complex in Royapettah, Chennai

Growth expectations: Has opened a dedicated gaming retail store (this happened in December 2009).  Has plan to expand its exhibition operations in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

Origin Games

Starting year: At Inorbit mall in March 2004

Number of outlets: 3

Growth expectation: Targeting Hyderabad store to be operational by May end 2010. In a process of starting shop-in-shop very quickly in cooperation with B2B portal

Games The Shop

Starting year:  27th August 2009

Number of outlets: Currently one is operational and second store is to start in

April 2010

Growth expectation: Planning to open 8 more stores pan India by 2010.

bluO

Starting year: Promoted by PVR, bluO was launched in India in March 2009 at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon

Number of outlet: One

Growth expectation: To launch 120 to 140 lanes across metros like Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, etc. with an investment of Rs 60-70 crore. Targeting CAGR of 30-40 per cent in FY 2010-2011.