Inside PlayStation's Big Push Into India's Burgeoning Gaming Market
PlayStation has revealed some new details of its India Hero Project – the company’s big push into the exploding India game market. First announced in May 2023 as a followup to the successful China Hero Project, the new initiative aims to support game developers in India to bring their games to PlayStation 5.
The gaming market in India is currently worth an estimated $868 million in 2023 according to analyst firm Niko Partners, which is expected to nearly double by 2027. Recent advances in affordable high-spec smartphones coupled with the Indian government’s investments in affordable high-speed mobile internet has made mobile platforms more easily accessible to gamers in India. And while console and PC platforms are currently a tiny slice of the pie, they are growing, with both PlayStation and Xbox building support programs to help local developers to bring their games to both domestic and global audiences.
Speaking ahead of the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) held in Hyderabad at the beginning of November, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s third-party business lead Hector Fernandez and India Hero Project program manager Sujith Sukumaran gave IGN Japan an update on PlayStation’s plans.
India Hero Project is a program where developers based in India can pitch their game to PlayStation, with a committee of nine Sony employees assessing each game. Sony will offer financial, technical and marketing support, and in some cases, perhaps even publish the games directly.
China Hero Project began in 2016 and is now in its third round, with acclaimed games such as F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch finding reasonable global success, and hotly-anticipated titles Awaken: Astral Blade and Daba: Land of Waterscar to follow. With India’s
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