Six Indian companies among top 10 digital media players in FY23: Redseer

The Indian digital media market has reached an estimated market size of 11 billion US dollars in FY23. This remarkable growth has been catalysed by the surge in internet users and their engagement, propelling the market at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 35 per cent over the last two years due to Covid-led market tailwinds, according to a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants.

In FY23, six Indian companies secured spots in the top 10 rankings of pure-play digital media companies by revenue. These six Indian companies are Dream Sports, Gameskraft, Games24x7, Verse Innovations, Junglee Games, and Times Internet.

“The focus on 'For India' content and strategic alignment with local consumer interests have proven pivotal for domestic digital media companies,” said Mukesh Kumar, associate partner at Redseer Strategy Consultants. “With this trajectory, we anticipate further revenue expansion and market dominance for these platforms.”

The robust performance of the digital media market owes a lot to the media and entertainment sector, which itself is a multifaceted arena comprising various segments such as over-the-top (OTT) video services, audio streaming, short-form video platforms, and digital gaming. Excluding contributions from social media platforms, this sector alone is responsible for injecting an impressive 5.5 billion US dollars into the overall digital media market ecosystem.

Breaking down these numbers, one finds that a dominant share—approximately 60 per cent—of this contribution comes from the digital gaming sector. This remarkable figure highlights the popularity of the gaming sector in India, catering to the Indian population with domestic games like rummy and leveraging cricket's popularity through daily fantasy sports. Also, with the focus on vernacular content and understanding the diversity of languages and cultural nuances across India, game developers are increasingly localising their products and creating content in native languages. This inclusion of vernacular elements not only aids in broader user engagement but also helps in penetrating untapped markets across different states.