Tech Shout!

Indiagames is no new name for any gaming enthusiast. A topnotch international developer, publisher and distributor of games mobile phones, headquartered in India, with offices in Mumbai, Beijing, London and Los Angeles, Indiagames has scaled the heights of gaming in the country and has been successful in not only carving a niche for itself but also introducing and acquainting gaming to countless in the country.

Indiagames started off with 5 people and now boasts a 300 strong team. Infact, it is practically impossible to find an individual from the gaming fraternity who hasn’t had any association with the company. It is not only the leading gaming company but also is the leading source of people who are venturing into the gaming industry. Six degrees of separation to everyone within the Indian games marketplace!

Indiagames’ boasts of having TOM Online, the leading wireless VAS provider in China owned by the TOM Group of Hutch, as its largest investor is. Other investors in Indiagames include Adobe and Cisco.

TechShout.com recently had a chat with Vishal Gondal, Founder & CEO of Indiagames, and an ardent gamer himself. From the company’s birth to its latest ventures, to its forthcoming games, we spoke about it all.

We kick started the talk by asking Mr. Gondal about the inception and highs and the lows the company has encountered from its start.

Addressing this, he replied, “Indiagames was founded in 1999, a time when online gaming was unheard of, in India. The company has the distinction of being India’s first ever gaming site. However, in the year 2000, like most dotcom companies, Indiagames too went through rough patches. However, slowly and steadily we resurrected the company. Our company’s core strength was two things, firstly it understood the gaming business well and second, it was well-aware of the pulse of the gamers.

Keeping these aspects in mind, in early 2005, Indiagames began working on their online gaming strategy and in early 2006 they laid the whole plan for it. Today Indiagames is fully developed with their online games offering.

In the present day, Indiagames is the only company which can boast of having the expertise in mobile, online and console gaming all together as one entity.”

The company’s success story is set to extend further with its latest partnerships and launches. UTV has signed a deal with Indiagames and has proposed to acquire a UK-based company called Ignition, which makes games for the Nintendo DS, Wii and various other platforms. Once these deals are completed, Indiagames along with UTV and Ignition will be the only body in India which will have capability of television, thanks to UTV and its TV channels, whilst Ignition has capability of Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii etc. and on the other hand Indiagames has mobile and online gaming and the three companies will be working cooperatively with each other.

On the PC front, a major Cricket product, which is completely 3D will be launched soon.

Furthermore, Indiagames is also developing games which are India-centric, comprising of content and story lines surrounding the country. In the works is a video game called ‘Ashoka’ that is currently under development, and would most probably launch in a year’s time. Also in the making is a cricket-based MMORPG.