Vi partners with Nazara Technologies to bring over 1,200 games on its app

Telecom major Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi), on Monday, announced the launch of ‘Vi Games’ on the Vi App, in partnership with the homegrown gaming and sports media company Nazara Technologies Limited, for gaming enthusiasts in India.

According to a FICCI-EY report, gaming is among one of the biggest segments in the entertainment category and is estimated to cross 500 million users within 2022 in the country. The gaming segment is also the most popular choice for fun and relaxation by Indian consumers and is expected to garner even higher share and money spent by users over the next few years.

The telecom provider, in a statement, said, “Through this deep-integrated association, Vi customers will get access to a wide range of gaming content including popular game titles from various franchises in India on its gaming platform - Vi Games.”

Avneesh Khosla, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Idea, while inviting Vi consumers to Vi Games, said, “We are seeing a significant uptake of gaming consumption in India with more than 95% of gaming enthusiasts using the mobile device to enjoy a wide variety of content… We see gaming as a major focus area of our digital content strategy and we intend to build a comprehensive play encompassing most facets of gaming with the aim of establishing Vi as a preferred destination for both, casual as well as serious gamers.”

In India, the average time spent by consumers on online gaming is over 4 hours, indicated a report titled ‘Digital Reset: Touching a billion Indians’ by Deloitte and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

“Our partnership with Nazara Technologies will elevate the gaming experience that we offer to our consumers through a wide bouquet of exclusive games available on the Vi app for our users,” Khosla further added.

Nitish Mittersain, Founder & Group MD, Nazara Technologies, said, “Gaming is not only the future of entertainment in India but already a key mode of entertainment for hundreds of millions of Indians playing games on their mobile phones every day. Nazara is delighted to work with Vi to bring our entire portfolio of gaming content, esports and interactive entertainment to their larger user base.”

Vodafone Idea Limited, Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership firm, also revealed that the newly launched service Vi Games on the Vi App will offer a gaming experience with more than 1200 android and HTML5 based mobile games across genres like Action, Adventure, Arcade, Casual, Education, Fun, Puzzle, Racing, Sports and Strategy.

Initially, the Vi Games proposition will have casual gaming content and gradually be developed to host social gaming and eSports in the future.

Vi Games’ gaming content can be divided into 3 categories -

• Platinum Games: This category would be available on pay per download basis through a Platinum Pass priced at Rs 25 and Rs 26 for postpaid and prepaid users, respectively.  
• Gold Games: This tier will have the largest base of content library and can be accessed through a Gold Pass, which will offer 30 games for a validity of 30 days, for Rs 50 for postpaid and Rs 56 for prepaid users.
• Free Games: Post-paid users with plans worth Rs 499 or more will be offered 5 free gold games every month. In addition to this, the company will also host over 250 free games on the platform for all its customers.