Gaming industry to add 1 lakh new jobs by FY 23 across sectors like E-commerce, Fintech & Education: Report

Technology staffing firm TeamLease Digital's report “Gaming: Tomorrow’s Blockbuster” revealed that the sector directly employs about 50,000 people of which 30% of the workforce are programmers and developers.

Over the next year, the sector will add new jobs across domains like Programming (game developers, unity developers), Testing (games test engineering, QA lead), Animation (animators), Design (motion graphic designers, virtual reality designers), Artist (VFX and concept artists) and other miscellaneous roles (content writers, gaming journalists, web analyst).

From a salary perspective, the highest-paying profiles in the gaming industry include Game Producers (Rs 10 LPA), Game Designers (Rs 6.5 LPA), Software Engineers (Rs 5.5 LPA), Game Developers (Rs 5.25 LPA) and QA Testers (Rs 5.11 LPA).

Sharing his views Sunil Chemmankotil, CEO, of Teamlease Digital, said "Gaming industry is the next sunrise industry due to its increasing user base and the opportunities that this industry is set to offer. It offers jobs across sectors, and that makes it more in demand. Despite facing hurdles owing to frequent regulatory changes, the gaming industry is expected to create 1 lakh jobs by FY23 and grow 2.5x by 2026.”

Munira Loliwala, Business Head-Specialized Staffing, TeamLease Digital, highlights the growth prospectus of the industry, stating, “We are at the cusp of exponential growth in the sector. This industry is on the trajectory to grow by 20%-30% by FY 23 and is expected to reach INR 38,097 crore by 2026."

With a 480 million strong gaming community, India is the second largest globally, after China.

To address this growth, employment in the sector is going to significantly increase, she said.

Today, we have a 90% millennial and Gen-Z workforce and the majority of these professionals are aspiring to work in emerging sectors like gaming.

By FY 23, close to 1 lakh new jobs will be created in the sector and this is further projected to increase by 50% taking the Industry’s overall growth trajectory to more than 113% by 2025, said Loliwala.

The report further highlights the educational qualifications and skill competencies that employers look out for.

Candidates seeking to work in the gaming industry are expected to have qualifications ranging from BCA in Software and Diploma in 3D, 2D, Animation, and VFX to M.Tech/B. Tech in IT and Diploma in specialized languages like C++, Java, and DevOps.

“With the confluence of Web3 and Metaverse, gamification is not just restricted to traditional gaming avenues but has extended to other emerging tech sectors like E-commerce, FinTech, Education, etc. Over the next few years, aided by the sturdy growth in the sector, we will see a catapult impact on employment as well”, added  Loliwala.

The report also indicates that to drive the growth vision, investments in the sectors will continue to grow. Currently, in terms of revenue, India is placed sixth on the world’s biggest gaming market index (global market revenue of approximately Rs 17,24,800 crore).

The sector is expected to attract FDI to the tune of Rs 780 crore by FY 23.

Additionally, stakeholders across the industry are also working to bring refined policies to govern the ecosystem.

With the increasing participation of Women Audience in the gaming Industry of more than 40%, there will be a significant rise in the Women’s workforce in Gaming with more women occupying leadership roles in this sector.