MECH MOCHA – Evaluation from Investment perspective

Mech Mocha Game Studios Pvt. Ltd is a Bangalore based start-up that makes mobile games. Its popular
game “Chota Bheem” has over 4 million downloads with an average rating of 4.4 [5]. It has in-app
purchases ranging from Rs.11 to Rs. 251 per item [5].

There is tremendous growth in the mobile gaming sector; gaming industry in India is estimated to grow
at a compound annual growth rate of 6.61% as per a report entitled Emerging Trends in India Gaming
Industry [7]. The report said the gaming industry in India is expected to touch $801 million by 2022 from
$543.08 million in 2016 [7]. This has led to a lot of global players to focus on Indian gaming market: Disney
has set up its game development studio (along with its film unit) in Mumbai. Ubisoft has ensconced itself
in Pune since 2008, along with 300 employees. Zynga has set up shop in Bangalore [4]. PWC reports show
that India falls in the segment “Higher-growth, larger-scale markets” worth more than USD 750 million
[5].

Figure 1: Global video games market, segmented by forecast rate of growth and scale, 2013–2018 (Source: [5])

Mech Mocha is also currently partnering with global developers to come up with Indianised versions of
international games. It is however risky to assume that Indian consumers prefer Indianised versions of
popular games, and might be indifferent to it. Traditionally apps based on casino games, astrology,
Bollywood, and cricket have met with the biggest success [1]. The top 10 games on the Android platforms
have few Indianised games [1]. See Table 1 and 2 for ranking of android games in India as per [3] and [8]
respecctively.

Rank Android App/Game Rank Android App/Game

1 Candy Crush Saga 1 Teen Patti Gold
2 8 Ball Pool 2 8 Ball Pool
3 Ludo King 3 Teen Patti - Indian Poker
4 Teen Patti - Indian Poker 4 Clash of Clans
5 Candy Crush Soda Saga 5 Google Drive
6 Subway Surfers 6 Tinder
7 World Cricket Championship 2 7 Ultimate Teen Patti
8 Teen Patti Gold 8 BIGO LIVE - Live Stream
9 My Talking Tom 9 Clash of Kings
10 Callbreak Multiplayer 10 Zynga Poker – Texas Holdem

Table 1: Top Downloaded Free games - India [8] Table 2: Top Grossing games/apps - India [3]

The bigger challenge is revenue generation. “Mobile video gamers in India are also less likely to pay for
their gaming activities than their counterparts in other BRIC countries” [2]. Credit card penetration in India
is a meagre 8%, along with over 90% of mobile contracts being prepaid, which creates a hurdle to rake in
profit from in-app purchases [1]. Out of 131.7 million mobile gamers in India last year, just 23.7 million,
or 18 per cent, paid for gaming content [2]. A comparison with other BRIC nations are shown in Figure 2.

40
Brazil , 35.4
% of gamers who paid for content

35
China, 30.2
30 Russia, 27.1
25

20 India, 18

15

10

0
India Russia China Brazil
Axis Title

Figure 2: Percentage of gamers among total users who paid for content [2]

Conclusion
Mech Mocha can maximize the opportunity that the Indian gaming market provides, but to do so it needs
to develop original gaming content rather than focusing on Indianising globally popular games. The
revenue model will have its own challenges in India, but developing original games would also appeal to
certain segments of the global audience and not just the Indian gamers.
References
[1] http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-promise-and-pain-of-gaming-in-india/
[2] http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47487993.cms?utm_source=contentofintere
st&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[3] https://www.similarweb.com/apps/top/google/store-rank/in/all/top-grossing
[4] http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-promise-and-pain-of-gaming-in-india/
[5] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mechmocha.cbhaalpha&hl=en
[6] http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-entertainment-media-outlook/assets/2014/pdfs/video-
games.pdf
[7] http://www.livemint.com/Companies/ktO0YI9GFlvJfcPH6ErJgO/Mech-Mocha-raises-5-million-
from-Accel-Partners-other-inve.html
[8] https://www.similarweb.com/apps/top/google/app-index/in/games/top-free