Paytm’s games vertical saw a 200% increase during the lockdown in March

• Paytm First Games tripled the number of new users on its platform.
• The company said that it has been adding 75,000 new users every day.
• Among the games, Rummy has gained maximum traction with users and games played doubling every week.

Paytm First Games – Paytm’s games arm – has seen a 200% increase in users in the month of March as people stayed home due to the lockdown. The company said that it has been seeing 75,000 new users being added to the platform every day.

“As malls, movie theatres and popular hangout options shut down temporarily in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, online gaming is picking up as a popular option for stay at home entertainment. We are seeing a significant uptick in downloads of our app and the time spent and engagement in our online games has increased manifold,” said Sudhanshu Gupta, COO, Paytm First Games.

Gupta also said that the number of new users tripled in March. He added that their user base belongs to the age group of between 18-45 years. “What is interesting to observe is that while a large chunk of our users are from metropolitan cities, there has been a bigger contribution of the new users from tier-II, tier-III and the rest of India towns,” he said.

As the pandemic spreads, Indian government placed a lockdown in the country. People have been staying home as millions of professionals also work from home. During these times, people are attracted to online games. Globally, the Houseparty app has blown up in terms of users and popularity, where people are having a party with their friends virtually.

Even at Paytm First Games, games like Rummy, Ludo, Pool, Snake Wars, Whack a Mole and Danger Dash have seen a lot of traction. Among the games, Rummy has gained maximum traction with users and games played doubling every week.

The company also said that every month it gives out rewards and gratification worth more than ₹10 crore.

Meanwhile, another gaming company Winzo games too has seen a similar spurt of growth. To cater to the audience WinZO has been adding global blockbuster games such as Tencent's PUBG, Garena's Free Fire, Ludo among many others. The platform is offering free content for the first-time as an effort to support the audience with social gaming during the lockdown due to tbe corona pandemic.

“There has been a surge in gaming activities since the lockdown has started. WinZO has seen a 30% surge in online traffic on their platform in the last two weeks. The surge in traffic is mainly from Tier I and metro cities over the last two weeks. As most cities in India are under complete lockdown, people have very limited social entertainment options but the need to be connected with a community stays. Game Play on WinZO is up three times as compared to a regular day. It’s not only India that is witnessing a huge jump in gaming activities, Italy has also seen a 70% increase in gameplay,” said WinZO Games co-founder Saumya Singh Rathore.

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