There’s Money In That Online Gaming Data Usage

Gaming is an exponentially growing industry, with the formerly niche hobby now becoming as commonplace as listening to music or watching movies. In fact, the Entertainment Software Association estimates that as many as 59 percent of Americans play video games.

The potential for revenue in the gaming industry is enormous, and now the Indian division telecom Mobile TeleSystems  (MTS) wants in on the action—but not necessarily to sell games. The real money is in the data consumption.

The company is set to launch India’s first ever online gaming platform, which they call GameGod. The system will host dedicated gaming servers in Delhi, which would reduce the latency time faced by Indian gamers, who often have to use servers located in Singapore or elsewhere.

One of the primary aims of the company in developing GameGod is to increase the country’s data consumption. Data growth revenue was the main factor MTS’s recent 5 percent in the last quarter.

Leonid Musatov, the chief marketing and brand officer for MTS, said:

Tapping into India’s embryonic online video gaming spectrum promises to increase MTS brand’s appeal with the young internet generation, crank up data consumption and drive up contribution of our annual non-voice revenues to over 50 percent.

Musatov noted that the main focus will be PC gaming rather than video game consoles because “India’s computer penetration, with an installed base of roughly 50 million, is much higher than consoles.”

MTS also plans on seeking deals with western game companies such as Valve Corporation, Blizzard Entertainment, and Activision Publishing to put already popular titles on the GameGod platform.

The first two games to be offered on GameGod will be Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2.