Reels, ads, influencers key pulls for gamers, Meta survey shows

Six in 10 smartphone gamers indulge in gaming activities daily and nearly 90% of those who engage in real-money gaming participate in such games at least once a week, showed the findings of a survey commissioned by Instagram and Facebook parent Meta.

The study conducted by gaming market researcher GWI also showed that nearly half of casual as well as real-money gamers come from non-metro cities and towns, pointing to the widespread prevalence of gaming across the country.

Three-fourth of casual and real money gamers in India find new games to play and purchase on social media, with reels, ads, and influencers playing a key role in driving this discovery, the study said, adding that more than 90% of these do so on Meta platforms.

The survey, which polled 2,019 participants between the ages of 18 and 64 from 75 different cities in India, found that festive season and sporting events significantly influenced the type of games players chose to engage in.

Close to 90% of the respondent said they were more likely to switch from playing other real-money games to fantasy sports games during tent pole sporting events such as the Indian Premier League and World Cup.

The survey also found artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) as the top three gaming technologies that most interest casual gamers in India.

The findings of the survey were announced at Meta’s inaugural Gaming Summit in India, where the role of AI-powered ad tools in driving growth for gaming brands was also highlighted.

“Gaming is a top three vertical for Meta globally and we’re particularly seeing our Advantage+ suite of automated ads drive growth for gaming brands. Gaming is poised to play a leading role in India’s techade,” Arun Srinivas, director and head of ads business for Meta in India.

The summit was attended by the country’s biggest gaming brands that also shed light on the use of innovative cutting-edge technologies.

“As a brand that puts innovation and experimentation first, we were keen to use Meta’s Advantage+ App campaigns. With the help of this automated solution, our customer acquisition cost improved by 12%. Today, the majority of our users come from outside the tier-1 and 2 cities,” Vikrant Mudaliar, chief marketing officer, Dream Sports.

Jaskaran Singh, assistant vice-president for growth at Baazi Games, said: “We used a combination of AI-powered Advantage+ Shopping campaigns, partnership ads, and influencer-led creatives that together drove a 123% increase in install volume, along with a 15% decrease in the cost per first time transaction.”