Ahead of the cricket world cup and IPL season, Play Games24x7 has unveiled its new fantasy sports platform, My11Circle, offering a completely new way of experiencing fantasy cricket. In an exclusive chat, Bhavin Pandya, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the company shares their plans ahead. Edited excerpts.
What is the number of downloads you have overall and how much among them have financial transactions?
We have over 40 million downloads across all our products. The cash games include RummyCircle that has over 10 million registered players and now My11Circle with 70 Thousand players so far.
What are the ways you are ensuring that the money transactions are seamless and reach the right people?
Play Games24x7 have multiple payment options across all its platforms. Players can pay through credit cards, debit cards, net banking and eWallets. All cash players have to complete KYC verification before any winning amount is transferred to their accounts. Also, bank details must be updated on the platform and the winning amount is sent directly to the player’s account.
How prepared are you in terms of technology in the coming days, provided that more installations are to happen from your game series?
Yes, we are expecting a large number of registrations across all our products and especially on My11Circle . The platform is expected to get a lot of installations, as we approach the biggest cricketing season. Our state-of-the art technology stack is ready for the challenge. We are committed to providing an absolutely unmatched gameplay experience to our users in this high voltage cricketing season.
How is the customization aspect of your rewards points ? Please explain your strategies in that?
Our loyalty and rewards program is designed to reward players who are highly engaged or have been with us for a long time. Players, therefore, receive a variety of benefits including free exclusive tournaments and additional bonuses to play games with. They also have the option to redeem their reward points for cash or other benefits. There are a host of other advantages available to premium players – from fa aster response to queries to immediate disbursement of withdrawals.
What are the latest developments taking place in your organization?
Given the success of RummyCircle and Ultimate Games, we learned two important things. One, what are awesome gameplay experiences and two how to provide those awesome gameplay experiences. With the launch of My11Circle, our fantasy cricket app, we give our players the platform to enjoy their favorite cricket game and win real cash while being committed to providing awesome fantasy cricket experiences. On the Ultimate Games front, we have for the first time ventured into a non-casino style, casual game with Battle Snakes. Working on different gaming products over the years, we have learned a lot and it is now time to give back to the community. We are at the moment working on a product that can help other gaming and digital companies quickly acquire, track and thereby monetize their players profitably.
How do you compare Indian games sector versus the counterparts overseas?
India is making its mark in the online games segment. Whether it is the gameplay, visuals or the choices at an offer, Indian market is leading. The players today prefer games that have a local connect. Games like ‘rummy’, ‘teen patti’ and even cricket are games they grew up with. Now, enjoying the very same games online gives them absolute gaming satisfaction. Interestingly, according to the latest study by KPMG and Google in India, the gaming industry is currently estimated to stand at approximately $0.6 billion, of which online gaming is approximately $0.37 billion. The study also says that the gaming industry in India is expected to touch $1.3 billion by 2022, adding more than 0.19 billion gamers in the time-frame.
Can you please tell in detail, what do the Indian gamers prefer? (you have any insights or trends? Like a preference for Indian characters, like games with GPS detection, games with maximum adventure etc)
The Indian player loves his phone. Around 89% of gaming revenue comes from mobile games. What clicks with the players today are strategy-based games that have a local touch. Online card games like ‘teen patti’ and rummy are among the top grossing games in India. The player has grown up playing these games in their personal space and now with the online mode of the games, with cash rewards make it high on popularity. There are also social games like ludo that is quite popular in India. Once more a game we have all played in our childhood. Freemium game models work well in the country. Indian players are smart and they don’t mind spending on games as long as they get quality content.  The other coming gaming sector in the country is fantasy sports, with the most popularity coming from fantasy cricket and football. This is a zone that is gaining popularity fast and with the upcoming cricket season, we can definitely expect to see a spike there.