India’s gaming industry concluded 2025 following a year of significant announcements, collaborations and tech innovations. India’s gaming market continued to expand in 2025, supported by affordable smartphones, low data costs, regional content and increasing acceptance of gaming as mainstream entertainment.
Major announcements in 2025
In 2025, Madmantra Games launched its PC game Kamla on both iOS and Android. The game sits at over 20 million downloads on Android alone. Later that year, the studio released the game on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.
Lucid Labs’ perspective-puzzle game Possessions, which was originally launched on Apple Arcade, broke out as a global cross-platform title. The game was selected for both the Meta Start program and the Xbox Developer Acceleration Program. The game’s Xbox demo went live and surpassed 500,000 players, with Steam and Epic demos adding additional momentum. The studio released its puzzle adventure title Bloom on PC with a Steam Demo.
Lakshya Digital contributed to major titles such as Mafia: The Old Country, Death Stranding 2, Flight Simulator and Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Nodding Heads Games announced Raji: Kaliyuga with a trailer, the sequel to Raji: An Ancient Epic. The title was unveiled during the Xbox Showcase and will launch as a Day One Game Pass release.
Nazara Technologies launched Bigg Boss: The Game based on the reality show Bigg Boss. The mobile game is available on both Android and iOS. FuseBox Games and All3media International launched a new mobile game The Traitors: Interactive Game, based on IDTV’s psychological reality competition format The Traitors.
Tara Gaming, backed by personalities like Amish Tripathi and Amitabh Bachchan, released the trailer of its debut game The Age of Bhaarat. Independent game developer Aeos Games released the trailer of its upcoming Indian epics-inspired soulslike, Unleash the Avatar. Newly launched Ginger Games announced their first title Monkey Mayhem.
Gamitronics’ PartyNite finished Project Century, which is its new technology to bring any Unity game in Unreal. Gamitronics on-boarded ZainTech – one of the largest system aggregator in UAE, as well as Saudi Electricity – where it worked on multiple solutions. The studio finished its game Darts VR2: Bullseye, which is already approved on Meta and awaiting approval from Sony. “Four publishers have shown interest and we are in the talks,” said Gamitronics CEO Rajat Ojha.
The year was big for major education updates related to game development. The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) signed an MoU with the Game Developers Association of India (GDAI) to enable collaboration aimed at strengthening game development education, industry engagement, and ecosystem development in India. Tiltedu and Datsi School for Storytellers collaborated to launch GameCraft Pro, a one-year professional program in game design and development beginning. Backstage Pass Institute of Gaming and Frameboxx Animation & Visual Effects signed an MoU to jointly launch specialised diploma and advanced diploma programs in game development and allied disciplines across India.
Trends in 2025
Industry experts and studio heads observed some key trends in the year 2025.
Indian PC and console gaming industry is growing
“The Indian PC-console industry is still in its early stages, but it’s growing fast,” said, MadMantra Games founder and CEO Shubham Rajanwar. We saw some strong releases this year and some big announcements for larger, well-funded projects now in development.”
“Cross-platform expectations tightened. Players now assume their favourite titles will exist everywhere. For indies, the bar for simultaneous PC–console–mobile support rose sharply,” added Lucid Labs founder and director Chirag Chopra.
Creating IPs
“Creating original gaming IPs in India is a solid direction for indie teams,” Rajanwar shared.
For Chopra, smaller games earned respect again. “Tight, clever mechanics found audiences in a world dominated by long-form content. Being small wasn’t a weakness if the craft was high,” he noted.
Efficient workflows
“2025 revealed major shifts in how games are produced, with studios prioritising efficiency, smarter pipelines and sustainable workflows,” stated Lakshya Digital founder & CEO Manvendra Shukul. “Leaner teams and tighter budgets pushed companies to refine processes and adopt tools that maintain creative quality while ensuring long-term resilience in their production models.”
Technology innovations
“Everything needs to be powered by AI,” said Ojha. “Our Brahamand is now powered by Common Sense Machine (CSM.AI) and we offer end-to-end pipeline for UGC.”
“VR quietly matured. Not in a flashy way, but in a steady and sustainable way,” highlighted Chopra. “Meta Start and similar programs signaled a real appetite for polished, comfort-first VR content.”
Other highlights
Another defining development was the growing interest in India as a key production hub. “Global studios increasingly recognised India’s blend of strong talent, reliable delivery and cost-effective scalability, making it an attractive choice as the industry recovered and prepared for a more stable, forward-looking phase,” mentioned Shukul.
“We’ve learned that lasting outcomes in gaming come from building for longevity, not spikes,” shared Felicity founder and CEO Anurag Choudhary. “We focus on evergreen games supported by infrastructure that compounds, where every title benefits from the ones before it.”
Studios set sail for 2026
From the release of their debut projects to new exciting announcements, Indian studios have a lot to look forward to in 2026.
MadMantra plans to announce a new horror title this year. “Kamla has raised player expectations, and our goal is to meet and surpass them with the next title,” revealed Rajanwar.
Shukul feels that studios around the world are regaining stability, planning new pipelines and preparing for a fresh phase of opportunities. “For Lakshya, this renewed activity creates room for deeper creative involvement and more ambitious contributions across projects,” he said. “We expect stronger collaboration, expanded scope of work and a more predictable production environment, all of which position us well to support the next wave of global development initiative.”
Gamitronics plans to continue its expansion in the Gulf countries, Europe and in the government sector in India.
“As we move into 2026, our priority is simple: keep building patiently and create a publishing platform that can scale sustainably for years,” said Choudhary.
Meanwhile, Lucid Labs is preparing Possessions for a full launch across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and VR, aiming for global visibility. “We’re also rebooting internal prototyping culture so the next Lucid Labs IP comes from clarity, not chaos,” shared Chopra.
Outlook in 2026
Studios believe that 2026 will be an important year for game development.
“We expect to see a surge of high-quality indie games coming out of India as more teams jump in and build ambitious new projects,” Rajanwar said.
Shortgun Games founder and CEO Vidhit Mehta added, “As we head into 2026, the focus for game studios is shifting decisively toward smarter scale. AI is already transforming how we design, test and work with games – shortening development cycles, personalising player experiences and improving live-ops efficiency. The next year will be less about chasing volume and more about building deeper engagement and globally competitive IP, with AI becoming a core creative and operational layer rather than a novelty”
“2026 will see more console support for indies, especially from platform-holder accelerator programs,” stated Chopra. “The year will see a rise in mid-budget, high-craft experiences, not just mega-AAAs or micro-mobile titles. We are also seeing continued pressure on mobile monetisation, pushing developers toward narrative-light, and retention-smart designs, something we’re also building toward.”
Chopra believes that 2026 appears to be a year of focus: minimised distractions, more precise execution, and enhanced cross-platform workflows.
