India’s most valuable unicorn Paytm wants to “provide a launchpad to homegrown developers” and “promote Indian culture through games”. Its subsidiary Paytm First Games (PFG) has unveiled a Rs 10-crore fund to invest in homegrown gaming studios, game developers, and designers to help them create Indianised and culturally relevant online games.
“The company will provide a launchpad to indigenous developers and design studios to promote their innovative games focused on Indian culture and folk tales. This provides an opportunity to studios for building exciting games, which will promote gamified learning on rich Indian heritage, mythology, and sporting history,” Paytm stated.
Paytm First Games, which recently roped in cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as its ambassador, houses Paytm’s fantasy cricket platform and over 300 mobile games. PFG has also set aside Rs 300 crore to invest in the rapidly growing fantasy sports market.
Announcing the new fund, Paytm First Games COO Sudhanshu Gupta, said: “Our country has the potential to revolutionize the digital gaming arena with innovative designs, technology, and talent.
We believe it’s the time to lead the digital gaming sector with Made in India games that becomes a global runaway success. Being a homegrown company, we want to play our part in enabling India’s gaming ecosystem. Our goal is to support over 200 talented developers, who may not have access to resources comparable to that of big studios.”