Tech Shout!

The Reliance ADA Group has announced the launch of its casual gaming portal called ‘Zapak.com.’ Zapak.com promises to be irreverent, whacky, fun, hi-tech and mass, and yet aspirational.

In addition to the official launch of the portal, the announcement of Zapak.com’s association with Bollywood superstar, Salman Khan was also made. A special zone on the gaming portal will be dedicated to the ‘infante terrible’ of Hindi filmdom.

Most online games on offer on Zapak.com will be exclusive to the portal, panning across Single Player and Multiplayer categories, as also across genres such as Action, Racing, Puzzles, Strategy, and Sports.

The gaming portal currently has over 150 casual games. Sudipto Majumdar, CTO of Zapak Digital Entertainment, said: “We have set-up operations of the portal on 100 servers and can today support upto 6 million users. We intend to increase this number to 1000 servers in the next 3 years.”

Meanwhile, the Salman Khan zone will host games based on him. In addition, Khan will also work closely with the Zapak team to conceptualize games.

Some top class international content like Heli Attack 3 and Four Wheel Fury will be featured on Zapak.com. The games portal will also offer unique online games such as Multiplayer Sudoku wherein gamers can pit their Sudoku skills against each other.

Rajesh Sawhney, President of Reliance Entertainment, said, “The launch of Zapak.com comes at the right time when the Indian market is poised for a gaming explosion. The demographic and economic profile present the ideal conditions for the Indian gaming market to grow by leaps and bounds. With 54 percent of the population below 25 years of age, India is only getting younger. Therefore, gaming is an important part of our entertainment strategy, and we are investing $100 million in this venture over the next 3 years. We at Zapak believe that gaming is in our DNA.”

“The first phase of our launch will focus on establishing India’s largest online casual Gaming Portal, Zapak.com,” said Rohit Sharma, COO of Zapak Digital Entertainment.

“Today we also announce our association with Salman Khan for creating a zone with him on the portal. This zone will host games based on the superstar, and Salman will also work with us to conceptualize some games,” Sharma said.

Salman Khan, who has stepped into the gaming scenario for the very first time said, “There is a gamer in each one of us. India has a large youth population, and I believe that Gaming has the potential of becoming the next big passion in this country.”

Salman Khan will feature in the Zapak games, and work with the Zapak team to conceptualize games. The first in a series of such games will be Puppy-razzi, a spin on the paparazzi, wherein the player will get to don the mantle of a photographer who has to click Salman without being noticed. If he gets noticed, Salman’s dogs My Jaan and My Son will catch the player, ending the game.