Indians Set To ‘Catch’em All’ As ‘Pokemon Go’ Gets A Desi Makeover

Looking to leverage India’s burgeoning gaming ecosystem, American software company Niantic and its partner The Pokémon Company (TPC) have launched their popular title ‘Pokemon GO’ in Hindi. 

TPC has allocated INR 125 Cr to fuel its expansion plans and will be spent on activities such as advertising and marketing for the next five years. The two plan to roll out the support for more Indian languages in a staggered manner. 

Niantic’s vice-president of emerging markets Omar Tellez termed the country a massive opportunity for the gaming company. 

“… India represents a massive opportunity for us—with over 500 million smartphones in the country. While we don’t expect our active user base in India to ramp up exponentially with its introduction in Hindi, it should increase approachability among the smartphone users,” Tellez told Livemint.

TPC will invest INR 25 Cr every year for five years to test the Indian market and see how users respond to its offerings. 

The duo aim to engage Indian audiences and leverage the growing base of  Hindi-speaking gamers in the country. With this, The Pokemon Company has launched localised content in India and many of the characters in the game will now feature Hindi names to increase the appeal. 

“We are willing to invest because India has a strong gaming culture. While a lot of the games popular in India right now are battle-style games, we hope the adoption of ‘Pokémon Go’ will increase… Our games keep people on the move and promote a healthier lifestyle. So, we are a very different category from those games,” The Pokémon Company’s director and chief operating officer Takato Utsunomiya said.

Meanwhile, the two companies plan to ‘rationalise’ the pricing of in-app purchase bundles as per the economics of the Indian market to popularise the game in the country. They have also introduced a slew of payment options, ‘typically used by Indian users’ to shore up purchases. 

On the game’s monetisation strategy, Tellez said that the company discussed and experimented with a wide range of ideas, including ‘banner ads and other formats’ to build an alternate revenue stream. He, however, added that the gaming company has chosen to proceed slowly on this matter. 

Meanwhile, Niantic is also said to be experimenting with a wide gamut of extended reality (XR) and metaverse technologies to make the game more interactive. However, the company expects the employment of such emerging technologies to be ‘possible in another five years.’

The Pokemon Company and Niantic join a growing list of global gaming giants that have made a beeline for India. While South Korean gaming major KRAFTON has shored up investments and products to focus on India, others such as Singaporean gaming company Garena and Chinese internet major Tencent have also re-entered India to cash in on Indian gamers. 

As per a report, the Indian gaming space is projected to soar to a market size of $8.6 Bn by FY27 on the back of growing smartphone and internet penetration in the country.

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