MOBILE GAMING

A ‘MEGA’ DISRUPTER ENTERS INDIAN REAL-MONEY GAMING

WORDS BY SHRIYA GHATE

Last month, a gaming app made big news when comedian and YouTuber Tanmay Bhat received a ‘tip’ of GBP 500 or approximately INR 50,000 at the app’s unique launch event. The plan was to invite fans with the highest tip, ranging from INR 20 to INR 10,000 to play a game of carrom with him while he streamed it live on his channel. However, some of his Indian fans managed to override the superchat cut-offs by asking their friends in the UK to tip Tanmay. The name of the app was GetMega, a startup founded by Mayank Kumar and Lokesh Jangid, serial entrepreneurs from Bengaluru. While no one knew of the app’s existence until mid-March, the duo had been working behind the scenes for almost two years to create a unique proposition in the world of gaming–a social real-money gaming platform. India already has 300 Million registered

users that contribute to the billion dollar real-money gaming market. “India is already leading the world in real-money gaming category and in that space, we’re further innovating to build a real-money gaming platform—our Atmanirbhar solution inspired by the vision to build a global product from India that is respected and revered by the global technology community,” says Kumar. The aim was to hit 5 Million users from the get-go and ramp up to 50 Million by the end of 2021. In a competitive market such as this one, the disrupting factor is the social aspect of the app. By turning on video or audio calling, players can recreate a real-life game with their friends. Available games include casual games such as carrom and pool, trivia games such as GK (general knowledge) quiz and Maths Ninja, as well as card games like rummy and poker. Players can host games by deciding on a buy-in amount. Conversely, players can bid to play with YouTube celebrities and get invited to their live-streaming games. Kumar feels that the app is tapping into something quintessentially Indian in its offering. “There is a large festive and social element associated with that poker match during Diwali. Now imagine if you could do that sitting anywhere using a video chat and feel as if you are sitting in the same room. We want to deliver that human emotion on demand with GetMega,” he says. All of these social features require top-notch software which was not easy to create. “Building a multi-player gaming platform integrated with video chat technology without disrupting the gameplay experience due to hardware problems like phone overheating, network lag, and battery optimizations is an extremely difficult problem to solve. We are extremely proud to have solved it for India in time for the launch,” says Jangid. The app recently raised USD 9 Million through Venture Partners, Accel Partners and others. If their current pace is anything to go by, the app can look forward to a ‘mega’ success in the months to come.