The growth of online gaming amongst India’s population has become more rapid in recent years, spurred on by the availability of compelling, competitive experiences available via mobile devices.
Today it is possible to play everything from looter-shooters like Fortnite to slots games on Casumo using a smartphone, but which titles are the biggest hitters in terms of pure popularity?
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
A wild success not just in India, but also around the world, PUBG helped to kick-start the trend for battle royale experiences, in which large numbers of players are dropped into sprawling maps and then have to collect gear and compete against one another as the playable area gradually shrinks.
Pretenders to the crown may have emerged to give PUBG a run for its money, but it remains the most downloaded online game in this genre amongst Indian players across both Android and iOS devices. For the time being, this looks unlikely to change, even with the aforementioned Fortnite breathing down its neck.
Call of Duty: Mobile
Since mobile gaming is the primary platform for online play in India, it is not all that much of a shock to see the portable iteration of Activision’s hugely influential Call of Duty series topping the download charts as well.
While it may lack some of the features of the console and desktop versions, Call of Duty: Mobile is still a fairly impressive first-person shooter, featuring frenetic gunplay across a range of maps and giving players lots of different options in terms of how they want to take on one another.
Coin Master
While PUBG and CoD: Mobile are both reliant on their gritty visuals and realistic gameplay, Coin Master is far more cartoonish and colourful, yet no less deep and engaging for it.
Like a number of other very popular online games powered by mobile devices and social media, Coin Master is focused on building. In it, players are able to construct their own Viking stronghold, collect resources and then try to battle other players to capture their villages and do a bit of family-friendly pillaging in the process.
While Coin Master is free to download, it has in-app purchases as well as a loot box-style system for acquiring certain resources and items, making it entirely on-trend for the casual gaming market at the moment.
Ludo King
With hundreds of millions of players, Ludo King is a modern adaptation of a classic board game that is particularly appealing to Indian gamers who want to play against the people they know and love even if they cannot be in the same room as one another.
The nostalgia factor that Ludo King brings to the table has certainly helped its popularity to grow ever since it was originally launched back in 2016, and it is indicative of the general interest that Indian gamers exhibit in terms of online titles that are inspired by experiences that have their origins in table-top play.
Teen Patti 3
Developed by Octro, this online Indian poker game is another one of the most commonly downloaded and enjoyed online games in the country.
It features engaging graphics, a range of different modes and varieties of Teen Patti to try out, as well as the all-important ability to play against other people and put your skills to the test.
Card games of several kinds have regularly been seen at the top of the charts in India, and this edition has been able to edge out the competition on a consistent basis, while also providing regular updates to add features and improvements to the game.