A screenshot of Ragnarok online ad on Rediff.com

Online games publisher Level Up which publishes the popular MMO RPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) Ragnarok in India, Brazil and Phillipines is taking its India marketing strategy for Ragnarok to the next level.

Beginning 30 October, Level Up has kickstarted an online advertising campaign on popular Indian portals such as Rediff and Yahoo with the theme 'Welcome to the other world'. The activity is of significance as it would be the first campaign to introduce MMO RPG as a social activity in India.

Speaking to Animation 'xpress, Level up India MD Venkat Mallik said, "Our three pronged strategy includes Player Recruitment Campaigns, Alliances and Icafe Development Programs. Game community development and management will be a parallel activity"

Ragnarok Universe: The Land of Rune Midgard

Created by Korea's Gravity Inc, Ragnarok is a 24/7 perpetual world with 54 Maps in The Land of Rune Midgard. Every City has its own architecture and once players enter a region, their avataar explores the area and participates in quests while meeting and interacting with different people.

Players start as novice and have to answer a set of 25 questions to move to the 1st job class, thereon graduating to the second job class as their skills improve.

"One can play Ragnarok for plenty of reasons like Chatting, Partying, Exploring or Simply to Hangout " remarked Venkat.

Characters in Second Job Class

Ragnarok is a rage in Asia (which is the world's largest online gaming market) and is the No.1 MMO RPG in Japan, Thailand, Phillipines and Malaysia. The total number of Ragnarokers worldwide is well over four million.

Neighbor China went from 0 to 20 million online gamers in 4 years. So why not India too?

As shared by Level UP, the latest IRS 2005 India figures look encouraging for gaming.
The study reveals that 12 % Males as well as Females (From the 6 metros) are already particpating in gaming activity with the figures for other urban centres being 10% for males and 8 % for females.

The Ministry of communications & IT has predicted PC user numbers to grow from the current 14 per 1000 to 65 per 1000 by 2008. Internet connections are expected to shoot up to 40 per 1000 by 2008 as per the current 5 per 1000.

Ragnarok: Introducing gaming into the Indian milieu

In India, gaming is generally percieved as something for geeks. Introducing gaming into the Indian milieu as a social activity with relevance to Indian culture is an uphill task. Nevertheless Level Up has the conviction and it has been encouraged by the response it has recieved in its journey so far.

In the past 15 months of Ragnarok's existence in India, Level up has tied up with over 1500 gaming cafes to promote online gaming across the country. It has also got two top notch cafe alliances with Reliance Webworld (241 across India) and Sify Iways (2503 across India).

"In India we see internet -cafes transforming into gaming cafes. We have entered into partnerships with all leading Internet-cafe chains in the country and are already witnessing a number of cafe owners looking towards gaming as a major revenue earner. Player meets at cafes are another critical element for extending the community experience outside the game" remarked Venkat.

'The other world'

Testimonials show that social interactivity is a key driver for the game which is targeted at user age group (15 to 25).

Cross country analysis reveals that consumption levels are not being dictated by cultural differences but are based on infrastructure. Looking ahead small towns having lesser entertainment options will garner substantial volumes.

The online MMO RPG which has been around for six years now (Internationally) enjoys long term association with the players thanks to its constantly evolving nature with new lands, maps, monsters and character classes being added every month.

Offline Events help foster the community spirit

Another retention activity is the number of online and offline events. One of the most popular online events on Ragnarok (India) is Castle Siege held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The event involves groups of players to protect their kingdoms from being overtaken and is a great teamsport.

Encouraged by the large traction for Castle Seige, Cafe owners have begun hosting their own Ragnarok related tournaments locally, akin to the colony cricket format that most Indians are familiar with.

Besides the online events, there are a lot of real life Ragnaroker events that the publisher supports. It also organises 2-3 offline events a month.

Awareness of these events is via online cafes, youth hang outs and emailer announcements etc.

Currently the online game is free to play in India with players reuired to buy an activation CD. As and when the game gets into commercial mode it will adopt the pre paid card model which would be sold at cafes, coffee shops, and other youth hang outs.

Amongst other Online Games in India are A3 which Sify is Offering and the buzz is that Vivendi is also expected to come in soon with its World of Warcraft.