Gaming Industry moving to retail mechanism

Gaming industry is a matured sector in the developed economies but, what India have say about it.

Sector Overview:

The retail gaming industry is segregated into mom and pop outlets and large format outlets. Gaming, is a crucial sector in the entertainment industry sizing upto and $48 billion globally. Of this the console and PC gaming contribute to 50% of its size and this gives us an estimate of how big the retail gaming market will grow into.

What do the players say about it?

Tha major and prominent players in this sector in India are Zapak, 7seas, Games2win, et al.
Zapak, Reliance's big entertainment online gaming arm has a positive feel about the growth of the sector. It has seen outstanding sales numbers in retail gaming through its gaming CDs. The number was about 200,000 units in 6 months. They are moving ahead by launcing 25 more titles.
7seas have also experienced a positive outcome out of the retail gaming sales. They agree with the idea that this industr provides quick returns in 6 to 12 months of time.

The related allies to this industry in India like the distributors of CDs and other publishers believe that this industry has a great growth potential in the coming years. Milestone Interactive which is one such distributor has an offering over 200 console games and about 60 titles in its portfolio. This industry has estimates of 20,000 console owners joining the community every month which would ripple down to lower price bands and more consumers.

Limitations:

With all the optimism this industry has a threat of piracy. Moreover, few players like Games2win have a sense that this is not all that lucrative as it looks as it needs huge capital (~$20 million) to sustain and pull up in this market.

Observation:

Retail gaming industry is going through a phase resembling the DVD rental market in India, though it has some more alarming factors to watch out for in the India economy like lack of computer education, low internet penetration and having crazy consumers as it is case for movies (DVD Rental).