Chennai: The Indian gaming market is witnessing stronger consumer spending, with combined revenue from in-app purchases (IAP) and advertisements projected to reach $1.5 billion this year and $2.4 billion by 2029, up from about $1.1 billion in 2025, according to a report by MIXI Global Investments (MGI). The report said this reflects the market’s evolution from casual ad-based games to more sophisticated, IAP-driven midcore experiences. The growth is being driven by rising interest in mobile gaming and a shift in spending from real-money gaming (RMG), which was banned last Sept.The RMG ban is expected to significantly boost non-RMG revenue growth, with a notable rise in interest in strategy games that require strategic thinking similar to poker. The simulation genre and free-to-play games have also seen growing interest from users shifting away from RMG, based on early first-party signals, the report said. It was prepared in collaboration with mobile data platform Sensor Tower.MGI is the corporate venture capital arm of Japan-based consumer technology company MIXI, which operates a $50 million India-focused fund. In-app purchases include spending on coins, extra lives, and one-time subscriptions made within games and remain a key area of concern in an otherwise lucrative Indian gaming market. India’s IAP revenue, excluding RMG, stood at $800 million in 2025, more than doubling over the past five years.“India has been one of the world’s largest gaming audiences for some time, but what the data now shows is a market maturing with revenue deepening, growth spreading across genres, and a widening range of players,” said Tomoharu Urabe, managing director of investment at MGI. The report noted that India is following the same promising maturation pattern seen earlier across other Southeast Asian markets, with spending expanding beyond shooting games. While shooter titles account for the largest share of in-app spending at 43%, strategy has emerged as a standout genre, with the 4X subgenre growing 77%, while newer niches have expanded even faster.
