The Karnataka government intends to launch a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for gaming in order to provide a complete ecosystem of hardware, software, innovators and the government on the same platform, said Priyank Kharge, Minister for Information Technology, Karnataka.
Kharge was speaking at the Games24x7 Accelerator Program at GAFX 2024 in Bengaluru. “We will have the most successful CoE in gaming being run from Karnataka. This year, the State will also host one of the biggest game developer conferences, followed by an e-gaming summit.”
Leadership position
Karnataka intends to keep its leadership position in the AVGC sector intact by fostering innovation and giving thrust to creation of IPs. “For Karnataka, it is important to maintain the leadership position and we want to be the AVGC capital and the creative capital for the country as well,” the minister said.
The AVGC sector, if nurtured well, has potential to create employment across various verticals within the gaming sector. Currently the industry employs close to 1 lakh people, directly and indirectly. By 2025, it has the potential to go up to 2.5 lakh people. “I want to ensure that Bangalore and Karnataka anchor this story of employment in this sector,” Kharge said. India had close to 1400 online gaming start-ups last year with more than 430 crore app downloads.
At this year’s GAFX, industry leaders suggested three initiatives so that Start-ups and gaming disruptors in the sector get a better opportunity to showcase their IPs and talent to the audience across the globe and not just in Karnataka: skilling in the industry, incubation centres and B2B platforms.