If you are a 90’s kid you will remember how the summer holidays were incomplete without a round of the board game ‘Ludo’ with your family members. Time has surely changed with the innovation of technology and today it is possible to recall those memories with the online mobile board game ‘Ludo King‘. During COVID-19 lockdown where everyone were staying at home, a round of Ludo King came as a saviour and united children with parents and grandparents.
“In India, a round of Ludo with family members is an emotion and thus due to increasing players in the lockdown 2020, Ludo King app crossed a total of 500 million downloads worldwide, making it the most popular Indian gaming app to embark in the big league of Mobile Gaming,” enlightened the Ludo King app creator and Gametion Technologies founder Vikash Jaiswal.
To know how he started his journey into gaming AnimationXpress reached out to Gametion Technologies’ founder Vikash Jaiswal. Jaiswal has thrown light about his early life. As a Patna boy, he used to love playing video games, especially his favourites, Nintendo Mario games and Road Fighter, in gaming parlours. While pursuing his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from MIT, Bulandshahar, as a part of his thesis he created a video game titled ‘Eggy Boy’, a seven level jump game like ‘Mario’, which was recognised as the ‘Game of the Month’ for July 2003 by PCQuest magazine. He also took up animation, graphic design, and 3D classes in Patna while pursuing his Bachelors. In 2004, Jaiswal moved to Mumbai and started working as a tech lead for Indiagames and later quit his job in 2008 and started his own gaming company, Gametion, with an investment of Rs 2.5 lakh and a team of seven.
Gametion originally created browser games, however it later shifted to making game for Android and iOS. Most of these original games were published on oneonlinegames(dot)com. Jaiswal shared, “We have never worked for the third party. We have put all our efforts, skills in creating our own IP.”
Going with same ideology in October 2015, Jaiswal came up with the idea for Ludo King, after coming across a Snakes and Ladders game app and he developed the game with one programmer and one graphic designer and launched it in December 2016 and it has been in the list since May 2017. By November 2017, the game had 120 million users worldwide, of which around 100 million were in India, followed by Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Brazil. Since then Ludo King ranked as the Number One downloaded game on App Store India in 2020 and has been amongst the top-most downloaded games on Google Play Store since 2018. “Our game has simplified Ludo Game on the mobile. We have put lot of ideas and for us simplicity was the key, be it the game or the graphics. You might think why this game is so hit compared to other games; the answer is simplicity.”
Over the last nine months, Ludo King saw its Daily Active Users (DAUs) increase from 15 million to 32 million daily, while its Monthly Average Users (MAUs) rose from 110 to 142 million. “We are really proud as Ludo King is from India and we have left behind various international games. We are playing our homegrown game which is a very proud thing and because of its existence, people from varied age groups have united. It’s a proud thing to witness that from grandparents to children to their parents are united and playing Ludo King together and splashed off the differences.”
One interesting fact about Ludo King creator was that he has received feedback from users and have worked with expanded elements. “Today five to six friends can play Ludo King at the same time irrespective of demographics and this feature is not available in any Ludo game,” he added. Previously during lockdown he has launched voice chat and e-greetings catering to the feedback from the users. They are planning to launch Team mode where two players can become team and can play against the opponent.
He believes “idea is the king” and there is no point in creating on the games that are already out there in the market. “Repeated work on the same field can’t bring greatness. ”
Gametion Technologies has recently launched QUICK LUDO mode for faster-engaging experiences. Ludo King also has released a five and six-player online feature. And he is constantly working on new innovations to the Ludo game with added enhancement like maybe a video calling feature and so on.
Gametion technologies has other games too like Carrom King, Sudoku King and they are planning to launch two more games in the next few months of 2021. He said, “They are currently in the development stage and will be released with planning. One of which is a board game and the other one is a casual arcade game. I can’t reveal much of the name and details of the game. In 2021 we are focusing on the revenue side which will be the priority side and the second thing will be like exploring new market like Europe, US, UK, Latin America and more for our Ludo King game.”