A senior official yesterday emphasised that India’s federal government will work together with the industry stakeholders to develop the gaming sector to scale it up further for global dominance, while stressing that the upcoming World Audio Video Entertainment Summit or WAVES in February next is being designed to shape innovation in the M&E sector.

Delivering the keynote address the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) 2024 in Hyderabad yesterday on the theme ‘Shaping the Future: Insights and Vision for the Game Industry’, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju said the video gaming industry has been earmarked for upskilling.

Adding that the segment is essentially led by content and creativity, Jaju, according to a PTI report from Hyderabad, added MIB would work with the Game Developer Association of India (GDAI) to create high-quality talent at scale in the country aiming at dominating the global gaming space.

Jaju said skill development in the video gaming sector will get a massive uplift by the formation of Indian Institute of Creative Technology that the Centre is planning.

Quoting from a press release from the organisers, the PTI report added GDAI chairperson Sridhar Muppidi said, “As an apex body representing video game developers, video gaming studios, and other stakeholders from the video gaming industry, GDAI seeks to provide a cohesive platform for industry growth, policy advocacy, and strategic collaborations with various ministries to position India as a global leader in the gaming sector.”

The IGDC, a three-day initiative of the Game Developer Association of India, began yesterday with over 100 global and local gaming developers and publishers showcasing their immersive and interactive entertainment. The event witnessed over 6,000 attendees on the first day, the release from  the organisers said.

Jaju’s keynote address was followed by an exclusive presentation on WAVES 2025, scheduled to be held in New Delhi early February. It emphasised that the event is aimed at shaping the next era of innovation and bring together industry leaders, stakeholders and innovators to explore opportunities in the M&E industry.

Jaju said WAVES will be a key forum to promote discussions and collaboration in the M&E industry. It will bring together industry leaders, stakeholders and innovators to discuss prospects and challenges, and promote trade to India.

MIB Studying D2M Rollout Process: Meanwhile, in an another development, MIB secretary Jaju told the Storyboard18 in Hyderabad that the Ministry, having completed a proof of concept of direct-to-mobile (D2M) technology, is now trying to understand, in consultation with all stakeholders, how it could be rolled out. (https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/going-through-rigor-of-understanding-how-to-roll-out-d2m-mibs-sanjay-jaju-47310.htm)

Last month The New Indian Express had reported that India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been conducting trials to check feasibility of the direct-to-mobile (D2M) technology in collaboration with MIB and partners like the Saankhya Labs.

The trials are being conducted in different cities, including Delhi, and government officials said experiments for D2M with IIT Kanpur have been successful. To take it further, transmitters on cellular towers and chips in mobile phones were required, they added.

On September 19, Tejas Network subsidiary Saankhya Labs, Free Stream Technologies (incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur) and the US-based Sinclair Inc. had announced a collaboration to design and launch a variety of value-for-money mobile phones with augmented D2M broadcast capability.

These consumer devices will be powered by Saankhya’s Pruthvi-3 ATSC 3.0 chipsets.

Consumer trials will be conducted on a variety of D2M devices comprising smartphones, USB dongle accessories, STB/gateways, and a low-cost feature phone, the statement from the three companies had stated, adding the trials will demonstrate interworking with mobile system-on-a-chip from suppliers with a collective global market share exceeding 70 percent.