Click & play: 2.5 million gamers in Telangana soon

HYDERABAD: There are only 20-30 gaming cafes in Telangana, but the state has potential to host over 200 gaming cafes. Of 15 million PC gamers in India, 1 million are from Telangana, pointed out industry experts gathered at the fifth edition of 'Gamer Connect', an event organised by NVIDIA on Saturday.

According to experts, Telangana will soon house close to 2.5 million PC gamers. The funding being pumped into the game developing sector in India is expected to touch $133 million this year as compared to $5 million in 2016. The event showcased latest gaming technologies, including 4K, high fidelity and VR. The venue housed over 100 demo stations, new games such as Call of Duty WW II, Destiny 2, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, NFS Payback and Assassins Creed Origins.

Speaking at the inauguration of the two-day event aimed at fuelling growth of India's gaming industry, IT minister KTR said, "Government has identified animation, visual effects and gaming as key growth engines for tech exports and employment generation. Hyderabad is already employing close to 30,000 people in more than 100 animation and gaming companies and 2D and 3D studios. The Telangana government also recently laid the foundation for a world-class facility for the gaming sector. It is very satisfying to see leaders from the gaming industries like NVIDIA, Dell, LG, Zotac and HyperX coming together to give gaming enthusiasts an experience through technologies like 4K, Virtual Reality and superior hardware. It will help boost our economy and further develop the gaming industry in the state."

Gamer Connect, which is a network of 30,000 gamers and 1 million gaming enthusiasts from 20 cities, was held in Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Lucknow this year. "Gamer Connect is a platform for gaming community to interact and explore new avenues in gaming and experience latest technologies introduced to PC gaming. Over the past years we have conducted over 150 events in 20 cities, which helped us connect with over 10,000 gamers. Number of PC gamers in Telangana is expected to rise to 2.5 million, thanks to the recently launched world-class facility, IMAGE Tower," said Vishal Dhupar, managing director, South Asia, NVIDIA.