According to the India Mobile Gaming Report 2021 (IMGR) published by Mobile Premier League (MPL), an esports and skill gaming platform, the number of online players in India’s tier-III cities and towns increased significantly in 2021. The top 30 of them reported up to 170 percent more gamers in 2020 than in 2020.
In some tiny regions, the number of online gamers has surged by more than 100 percent to up to 200 percent. Gamers grew by 123 percent, 179 percent, and 52 percent in Siwan (Bihar), Baimanagoi (Chattisgarh), and Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan), respectively. New gamers have flocked to small places like Alwar (Rajasthan), Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Dhanbad (Jharkhand), and Palanpur (Gujarat).
Interestingly, despite the lack of large cities renowned for being gaming hotspots in these states, the growing favor of mobile gaming in these areas has been a pretty amazing trend. Carrom, Fruit Dart, Fruit Chop, Runner No. 1, and Block Puzzle were among the most popular games in India, according to IMGR 2021.
Mobile esports such as Chess and Pool have also seen a significant increase in popularity in the country, with the MPL platform alone recording 1.3 million esports players in 2021. The platform attracted 17 million live viewers while nearly half a million games were played. According to numerous studies, the rising availability of low-cost cellphones combined with high-speed internet has pushed many individuals to take up gaming across the globe.
