When the entire world was struggling to get rid of the monotony and boredom, Vikash Jaiswal came up with an upgraded version of the most loved board game that kept people entertained, Ludo, and digitised it to improve its accessibility and reach.
Leaving behind Candy Crush, Temple Run, and PUBG, the digital form of this board game took the world by storm when the number of downloads surpassed the expected levels during the pandemic. Ludo King is a digital version of the popular board game that came to the limelight when the entire world was struggling with the pandemic and its consequences. People resorted to this digital version of Ludo to relive their childhood memories.
Available in 15 different languages across 30 countries, the game has a 60% user base in India, and a majority of the user base is accumulated in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia. Ludo King has proved its supremacy in the digital game space and has not only kept the entertainment going but has also given the parent company (Gametion Technologies Pvt Ltd.) substantial profits.
The Quarantine Paas Time
The most sought-after childhood board game took a digital turn, generated $20 million in 2020 and became a favourite pastime of people when the whole world was at a standstill. Ludo King was one of the most played games during the lockdown period, and it saw a fivefold increase in traffic during the lockdown period. With more than 330 million downloads, the game saw an engagement of 50 million daily active users. Before the pandemic, the traffic used to be 13-15 million Daily Active Users(DAU) and 60-63 million Monthly Active Users (MAU), but the statistics took an upsurge as the lockdown hit, and the DAUs crossed 50 million, and the MAUs crossed 182 million mark.
Unlike the other sectors that faced a dearth in their revenues and performances, Ludo King has a different tale to tell when it comes to its performance during the pandemic. It surpassed the most popular games of all time and came as a shocker to the creators of the game, Gametion Technologies. With around 100 million+ downloads, the game was ranked as No. 1 in the Top Free Games Section in Play Store and Apple Store. The app had 36 crore downloads on Android as well as 1.92 crore downloads on iOS.
Man Behind The Showstopper
The journey started when the idea of ‘relieving the childhood memories’ struck Vikash Jaiswal, the founder of a Mumbai-based gaming company, Gametion Technologies Pvt Ltd. Vikash took to the limited presence of Indian games and introduced the most played childhood board game to the entire world and became successful in this endeavour.
“While scrolling through the games on Google Play, I realised there were very limited games based on traditional board games, especially on Indian games like Ludo, snakes and Ladders, carrom, etc. I saw an opportunity there,” he said.
Vikash started Game Nation in 2010 with a minimum investment of Rs. 2 lakhs in Mumbai and began with the development of simple browser games and later expanded to Android and iOS games. Jaiswal attributes most of his success to the team and his wife, Soni Jaiswal. Apart from the flagship title Ludo King launched in 2016, the Indian game studio also developed other sensational games like Carrom King, Sudoku King and Bubble Shooter King. The popularity gained by this app gave the company a significant boost. From 8 servers before the pandemic to over 200 servers post-lockdown, the game’s popularity showed evident results for the business.
Capitalising On Popularity
Along with presenting to the world immensely popular Indian board games, the popularity of Ludo King yielded significant returns to the parent company. When the entire world faced the pandemic’s aftermath, Gamenation Technologies earned $20 million in revenue (in 2020). Ludo King saw a 5-10X growth by the time 2021 ended. The game relies on In-App Purchases and advertisements to generate revenue. Earlier, advertisements were the primary source, but with growing popularity, the revenue from IAP is also forming a good chunk of the revenues as the game introduces In-App Purchase packs worth Rs. 10.
“We have witnessed 4X growth in revenue in 2020, especially after the sudden interest in mobile gaming during the lockdown induced by COVID-19 pandemic. We are targeting 5X growth in revenue this year, aiming to touch the $100 million mark, heavily focusing on growing in-app purchases by launching new features,” said Vikash Jaiswal, founder of Gametion Technologies Ltd.
The post A Digital Turn To Relive Childhood Memories first appeared on SmartphoneCrunch.
