🎙️ WTF Is Happening in Gaming!

I joined billionaire and super good guy Nikhil Kamath on his popular YouTube show WTF Is... to discuss gaming, opportunities, AI, macro, strategy and India x gaming

Look for a new weekly interview or discussion on current and relevant game industry development topics!

It’s been about a week since Nikhil Kamath’s team published our episode of “WTF Is Gaming.” WTF Is… is one of the most popular podcasts in the world, and many episodes also get millions of views on YouTube. I’ve been a fan of his content and was super excited when I was invited to join.

Since the podcast aired, I’ve received a fair amount of increased attention and many, many add requests, which hopefully helps out our recruiting at Lila Games.

Went from 100 views per story to over 1K on Instagram.

5X’ed my profile views on LinkedIn.

However, more than that, it was awesome to meet some super cool people in Indian gaming and have one of the deepest conversations about gaming, opportunity, macro, psychology, and many other topics that I’ve had in many, many years.

If you haven’t checked it out, there’s a summary below, but I think you should watch it now!

🎧 Listen on Spotify

📺 Subscribe to Nikhil’s WTF Is… on YouTube

Speakers:

• Nikhil Kamath. WTF Is… host, co-founder Zerodha | True Beacon | Gruhas.

• Animesh Agarwal. CEO of 8bit Creatives.

• Joseph Kim. CEO at Lila Games.

• Nitish Mittersain. CEO of Nazara Technology.

• Sean Sohn. CEO of Krafton India.

▶️ Deep Discussion on Gaming, Opportunity, AI, Macro, Psychology, and India x Gaming

Here are some of the key highlights from our discussion. Watch the full video for more details!

India's Booming Gaming Market

• India now has over 500M gamers, but monetization remains a challenge. Of those, 100M are "monetizable" gamers willing to pay, with the rest playing free/ad-supported casual games.

• Real money gaming (fantasy sports, rummy, poker) has monetized significantly, Dream 11 alone has 200M+ users

Mobile Dominates, but Lack of PCs Holds Back Creators

• 95%+ of gaming in India happens on mobile. Consoles and PC gaming are niche.

• Lack of access to PCs makes it harder for Indian youth to build games on UGC platforms like Roblox compared to other countries. Most UGC is created on PCs not mobile.

The Psychology Behind Battle Royale's Massive Popularity

• Joseph believes that battle royale games like PUBG tap into a deep human desire to feel special and powerful. Outlasting 99 other players provide an unmatched sense of achievement and the feeling of being special.

• Cultural context also plays a role. Shooters are the most popular genre in the US and India, whereas Japan favors RPGs.

• In a general way, Joseph believes that people play games to manifest a latent human desire.

India Currently Lacks Talent and Expertise to Build Hit Games

• India has yet to produce a globally successful original game IP. The historical context for Indian studios has been a primary focus on live ops and support for games made elsewhere.

• Lack of talent with experience and skill building new hit games is a key bottleneck.

• Big tech pays significantly more than gaming. Cultural perception of gaming careers remains mixed.

• UGC platforms like Roblox could help train the next generation. An Indian teen made a hit game earning $10M/year.

AI Could Radically Transform Game Development

• AI tools are rapidly evolving to help generate game assets, code, stories, and more. Advancements in conversational AI are particularly exciting.

• Joseph believes AI will dramatically reduce costs and team sizes needed to make high-quality games. A solo developer could potentially build a hit game that reaches billions.

• Aspiring developers should learn AI fundamentals and how to apply it to various aspects of game development. They should think about a “cross” strategy AI x [specific industry discipline], applying industry-specific knowledge of big problems and applying AI capabilities.

• While AI may displace certain roles, it will also create new opportunities. The gaming industry is on the cusp of a revolutionary transformation.

Please do check out this super deep conversation with one of the most charismatic and nice guys I’ve ever met in my life. At the end of the podcast, all of us agreed to contribute to growing the gaming ecosystem in India through mentorship, accelerators, and funding. I am very excited to follow through on those initiatives.

Finally, one thing we all agreed on: we all see incredible potential for India to become a global gaming powerhouse in the next decade.