A recent report by renowned Indian games market analyst Rishi Alwani (published in IGN) has shed light on the gaming market in India.
According to Alwani's report, the five best-selling games in India in 2023 were:
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Hogwarts Legacy
Mortal Kombat 1
Assassin's Creed: Mirage
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Interestingly, Assassin's Creed: Mirage also topped the charts for pre-orders in the country last year.
Why Didn't Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Make the Cut?
One notable absentee from the top-selling games list is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Call of Duty franchise has historically been a sales juggernaut globally, but several factors contributed to its underperformance in India:
Quality Concerns: Indian players have grown weary of Activision's perceived copy-paste approach, with each annual release offering little more than graphical upgrades and minor gameplay tweaks.
Short Campaign: The game's campaign mode was criticized for being too short, failing to provide adequate value for money.
High Price Point: With a launch price of ₹5,599 (approximately $68), Modern Warfare 3 was perceived as overpriced by many Indian gamers.
Existing Multiplayer Options: The availability of the free-to-play Warzone may have diminished the appeal of purchasing Modern Warfare 3 solely for its multiplayer component.
As per Indian retailers, while they typically sell around 5,000 units of a Call of Duty title in the first month, Modern Warfare 3 barely managed to reach the 3,000 mark.
Moreover, when examining bundle sales for the PlayStation 5, Call of Duty was the "slowest moving out of the lot."
This trend aligns with the game's reception in the United States, where it was dethroned by Hogwarts Legacy as the best-selling title of the year – a position traditionally held by either a Rockstar or a Call of Duty game since 2023.
Additional Insights from the Indian Gaming Market
Alwani's report also shed light on a few other notable developments in the Indian gaming market:
PlayStation's Blunder: The highly anticipated Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Collector's Editions never made it into the hands of Indian customers, despite their advanced payments.
Physical Release Woes: Despite its strong performance, the popular title Helldivers 2 did not receive a physical release in India.
VR Adoption: Since 2021, Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 have collectively sold around 5,000 units in the country, indicating a growing interest in virtual reality gaming.
Looking forward, 2024 has been filled with groundbreaking releases that cater to the diverse tastes of the Indian gaming community.
We will see which one of them will take love from India in 2024.
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