India, Gaming and Development, A Critical Look at what matters more

Photo Credit : Wallpapers.com

 

 

India is a developing country and so is it's Market, Demand and Tech. Out of multiple pieces of tech, Video Games are one such thing that attracts a significant number of people including players, developers and investors. Most of the developers who are attracted towards Game Development are mostly because it sounds "fancy" and "Hi-Tech" and some because they have a genuine interest in it, and most of the people who play games in India use a phone, very few have a "Proper" Gaming PC, and let alone the PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo who don't rule even one-fourth of the Indian Gaming Industry. Yet, a number of Indian game Developers have been in the race to develop a game that is critically acclaimed and competes against Western AAA titles despite the challenge of consumers not having the needed systems to run these games, Those developers target the minority of who are "Rich" enough to afford a Gaming PC or Consoles and would easily be able to afford the price of a Video game, but the other side is that the game development is expensive and requires effort, developers are ready to pour in-to the efforts but lack the Money needed, and this is where the Investors come into the play, but they have a typical capitalist problem, the problem of avoiding "Uncertainties" and risk, Majority of the Indian Investors are looking for a "Quick Money" Scheme that does not requires much effort, they don't want to invest for long term (As evident from Shark Tank India), which eventually leads the game developers to focus on making the Games that are often substandard and mediocre, they focus on making the a Game that somehow "Sells" making them ignore what exactly audience wants or What exactly makes a Video a "Memorable Game", and this is where the problem begins.

 

Problems associated with Indian Games and their Developers

The problem with a lot of Indian game development is that almost all of them end up being centered around marketing points like "This game takes place in India", "This game is made by Indian developers", "This game has Indian mythology or history", or something along those lines to try and bring in some pseudo-patriot sentiment wherein supporting the game sounds like the right thing to do. The games are almost always overflowing with India-based visuals to drive that point home. And doubting the game will make it seem like you're just wanting Indian game Dev to fail.

But every single one of these games misses the point. A good game isn't about graphics or pushing some nationalistic sentiment. It's about good fucking game play. Most games have absolutely no interesting hook for people to say "Hey, that looks fun".

A good game doesn't need to be AAA either. Photo-realistic graphics are an expensive mistake that fledgling studios and aspirational game developers should avoid. The should focus on making a game like Hollow Knight, made by Australians, or Blasphemous, made by Spanish devs, or how Super-giant of Hades fame got started, with Bastion and Transistor. Your studio needs to be experienced at something to keep polishing that formula.

Fromsoft didn't start off with Bloodborne, they struggled with King's Field, multiple Armored Core games, nearly blew it with Sony and Demon Souls, and only then did they find the formula with Dark Souls. Even then, it took 3 Dark Souls games, one Bloodborne, and one Sekiro to literally become the worldwide sensation they are today with Elden Ring.

People are tired of having "Hey guys, look, an Indian game with Indians/Indian setting/Indian mythos" shoved down everyone's throat, even if people do want to eventually see those things in a polished and fun game. But damn, they refuse to make a polished and fun game first. Nobody plays GTA because it is situated in San Andreas or Las Santaos, everybody plays GTA because it is fun to play. There are some Indian developers making games that couldn't be labelled abysmal but neither it has to offer any legitimate fun or the "Gaming Vibes" Associated with it, most of them just simply come up with "GTA in Mumbai" but simultaneously failing to incorporate those tiny "specilizations" that Rockstar offers to make GTA a pursuit of wonder.