Games for happy seasons, games for social reasons

Mobile and online gaming companies are cashing in on festivals as well as awareness days to lure Indian gamers. Zapak, Mobile2win, Indiagames have a gamut of games for Christmas, New Year as well as World Aids Day. While festival games offer good entertainment, games on social awareness are a good way to educate the young urban as well as the rural crowd.

Festival games attract 25-30 % more downloads than other games. "People have a tendency to spend more during festivals . Also, it is a time when people relax. Indians are increasingly adapting gaming as an option for relaxation," says Mobile 2win’s Rajiv Hiranandani. "Also, games for Valentines Day, World Aids Day are a hit with gamers," he adds.

"We have received excellent feedback for our festival games. If our most popular games get 30,000 page views, the games on festivals get 20% more views. We will be offering interesting games on Christmas, New Year and Holi this year as well," says Zapak Digital Entertainment COO Rohit Sharma.

Zapak launched a game Play Safe which gives out the message of safe sex on December 1. "This is the first time we will be having game with a social message. I think game portals are an exceptional way to reach young audience and send across a social message," he adds.

There is a huge market for mobile games in rural India. Since games cut the language barrier, they provide a brilliant way to educate the rural youth on issues affecting the society. "Games are now not only a source of entertainment but also edutainment and infotainment. Mobile games are a good platform for educating, not only the young urban crowd but the rural as well, about various social issues," says Mr Hiranandani.

Mobile content developer and distribution company Sitare Games is also launching a game on spreading awareness about HIV and Aids. "It is well known that a major reason for the sharp rise of HIV-positive people in the country is lack of knowledge about Aids. Today, mobile devices are the most prevalent tool among children, adults as well as rural populations. It is our social responsibility to spread HIV/Aids awareness using the latest technologies," says CEO Devashish Mishra.

Indiagames has a set of games that gives message on ill-effects of smoking. "The gaming market in India comprises mainly college going students and young men falling within the age group of 17-25 years. Games help send across a social message in an effective yet non-preachy way to this age group," says vice-president Ciril Ferri.

"Our games on Independence Day and Ganpati gained huge popularity among the gamers. We offered various games for Independence Day under Mera Bharat Mahan title and the game on Ganpati was similar to Pac-man where the gamer had to make Ganpati eat as many ladoos as possible while the devils would try to stop him. Gamers liked this concept very much and the game downloads increased by almost 30% that time," adds Mr Mishra.

Indian gaming industry is not just growing but is also waking up to the cause of addressing the social issues affecting the society.