‘Gaming industry can become a billion dollar market in India by 2020 as the number of mobile users are expected to reach 700 million by then’ said Mr.Digbijoy Shukla Head- Startup, Ecosystem, AISPL, in his  inaugural address at the 2nd edition of GATO 2.0 organized by Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI].

On that note Mr.Akshat Rathee, MD, Nodwin Gaming  took the conference to a high note with his Keynote address wherein he  discussed how E-sports is creating numerous jobs every day and shared that 15% of the gaming market shared is owned by the eSports sector. 

 IAMAI organized its second edition of Gaming Summit and Expo called GATO 2.0. The daylong conference had discussions around the various facets of digital gaming in India. Industry experts brainstormed on the potential of various online games and will chart a roadmap for its future growth. The conference also hosted special workshops for developers by AISPL (Amazon Internet Services Private Limited) and Amazon Alexa.With one successful edition where the gamut of gaming fraternity came along, networked, shared & learnt, having passed by, this year’s conference was bigger & better.

 This year the conference also included GATO Awards for the first time to recognize and promote the efforts of the talented Indian developers. The Awards includes categories like Best Gaming App, Best Live Game, Best Fantasy Game App, Best use of AR/VR in a game; Best Card Game on App, awards will also be given to the Emerging Indian Gaming Company, Best Affiliate Partner for gaming and Best Mobile Ad Network for Gaming.

Mr.Haja Sheriff, Lead, Business Development, Alexa Skills delivered a keynote address at the conference  and shared that “ India is the development hub globally” and also highlighted that 80,000+ alexa skills growing every day.

Addressing the panel of gaming skill India Mr.Abhishek Shah, CEO, Conversion X heighted that hundreds and thousands of jobs will be created by eSports in India.

Addressing the panel on design in gaming and need and importance of gaming Mr. Mohit Agarwal, Founder, Adda 52 said “Game as a medium definitely provides new and powerful affordances, but it is the design within the medium to control those affordances that will establish the effectiveness of a gaming platform. If we want to enhance the appeal of our games, it is essential to recognize what makes an experience entertaining, and how such an experience can be shaped which is only possible by developing an effective game design. In this age of digital transformation and with the rapid growth of the online gaming industry it is essential that the online gaming companies must focus on developing a strong online gaming interface for its users and design is an integral part of this process.”

The Summit speaker’s line-up includes several high profile industry stalwarts like Haja Sheriff Lead - Business Development for Alexa Skills, Amazon India, Abhishek Shah, CEO, Conversion X , Pariekshit Maadishetti, Managing Director, Grid Logic Group,  Akshat  Rathee, MD, Nodwin Gaming, Ashish Gupta, GM - lead games ecosystem, Reliance Jio, Ankit Gupta, Apps partnerships, Google, Mohit Agarwal, Co-founder & CEO, Adda5, Anurag Khurana Head - Esports, Reliance Jio, Amin Rozani, MD, The Spartan Poker, Navneet Makharia, Director & CEO, Ability Games, Prosenjit Ghosh, Head - Sales & Marketing, Playstation Division, Sony India, Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman & MD, JetSynthesys, Sundar Raman, CEO - Sports, Reliance Industries among others and had discussions around topics like Design in gaming: Need and importance?, The rise of AI and AR/VR induced gaming, Mainstreaming Esports in India, The aesthetics of marketing a game in India, Responsible Gaming: Player Protection and Safety. 

The conference also hosted workshops focused on the central idea of building relevant skills for the gaming fraternity of India. The workshops will be conducted by developers from AISPL and Amazon Alexa. Some of the topics that were be dissected in the workshops include ‘Build the Cake Walk Skill’, ‘the future of voice-based experiences in gaming’, and ‘Add Memory to the skill to improve your Voice User Interface’.