Game Maker Mech Mocha Partners With US Co For In-Game Chat Features

Mech Mocha Game Studios, a Bengaluru-based mobile gaming company, has entered into a strategic partnership with US-based Agora.io, a video and live broadcasting platform.

Agora.io’s proprietary platform lets developers embed voice and video chat, live broadcasting, and other real-time communication features into any web or mobile app, and will help local developers access its global communications network to scale their apps. 

As part of the partnership, Agora.io will help with live, in-game voice chat for Mech Mocha’s  Hello Ludo game. Launched in October 2018, Hello Ludo is popular among regional Indian users, with more than 25 minutes spent per daily active user (DAU) and 60 Mn minutes of real-time voice chats last quarter.

“Not only does Agora.io consistently deliver high-quality communications for our users despite the challenges of India’s network connectivity, but they also have a dedicated local team, said Arpita Kapoor, cofounder and CEO of Mech Mocha.

As part of its India expansion, Agora, which was founded in 2014, will build a local team that will drive sales and provide customer and developer support.

Mech Mocha is reported to have raised up to $10 Mn (INR 71 Cr), with the backing of Korean and Japanese investors, as part of its ongoing Series B funding round in November while Agora.io, which also in November raised $70 Mn in a Series C round of funding, is backed by  by Coatue Management, SIG, Morningside and Shunwei Capital.

Rise Of India’s Mobile Gaming Industry

India is ranked among the top five countries in terms of highest number of game downloads in the world and currently is estimated to have over 120 Mn gamers who play mobile games for over 30 minutes a day.  The draw of mobile games has moved from individual entertainment to a community-based activity, which is why game developers are looking to add features like voice chat and in-game chat. 

Over the next few years, more than 400 Mn Indians are expected to be become part of the formal banking system, and with access to smartphones and digital transactions, the domestic gaming industry is expected to touch $943.8 Mn (INR 6,000 Cr) by 2020.

“As much as 89% of all game revenues in India were generated by mobile games. “These gamers are highly engaged; almost one-third play five days per week or more, and nearly 40% spend more than six hours per week playing mobile games,”  according to Rohit Sharma, founder of  POKKT, which is a mobile video advertising platform.

An example of how popular mobile games are in India, PUBG, one of the most poplar mobile games, recently rolled out a health safety warning feature for its Indian users, that locked players out of the game for 24 hours after six hours of gameplay but the warning was later removed with the company claiming it was a ‘system error’.

Earlier this month, it emerged that the Indian state of Gujarat had banned PUBG and there were even reports of gamers being arrested but amid much criticism and ridicule this move is expected to be soon revoked.