By: Yashash Agarwal, CEO & Co-founder of Gamezop
- As a gaming content publisher, could you provide a brief overview of Gamezop’s journey and your role as a co-founder and CEO?
I’ve always been passionate about gaming and the ever-changing world of technology. Growing up, I saw a disconnect in the mobile gaming space. There were tons of games and apps, but the process of finding, downloading, and deleting them was a frustrating chore. The mobile gaming experience felt clunky and needed a major overhaul.
That’s where the inspiration for Gamezop struck. I envisioned a platform where users could instantly play hundreds of games, similar to streaming videos. Instead of adding another gaming app to the crowded app stores, I wanted to integrate games seamlessly within apps and websites people already use. My goal was to build a multi-gaming platform with a B2B2C distribution model. The idea was to partner with popular apps and websites, offering their users access to our vast library of games. This vision became the foundation for Gamezop.
Sharing my idea with my brother Gaurav, who also had a strong interest in gaming, was a pivotal moment. Working at Bain & Company at the time, he saw the potential in Gamezop and made the decision to join me as co-founder.
Fast forward to today, and Gamezop is a thriving gaming platform. We’re now embedded in over 8,000 apps and websites, engaging a massive audience of over 45 million monthly active users. It’s been an incredible journey, and we’re constantly innovating to bring the best gaming experience to players everywhere.
- How does Gamezop benefit the partner platforms?
Gamezop serves as a unique plug-and-play platform that any third-party app or website (i.e. our partner platforms) can embed to provide gaming as a feature to its users. All our games are built on HTML5, allowing users to play them as effortlessly as they watch videos – with a single click and without the need for installation.
In essence, Gamezop operates as a B2B2C business, facilitating other apps and websites in enhancing user engagement through gaming. Trusted by over 8,000 apps and websites spanning more than 70 countries, our notable distribution partners include Samsung Internet, Sony News Suite, Tata Play, ixigo, Paytm, and Business Insider.
In recent times, we announced the launch of three new products – Quizzop, Astrozop, and Criczop – to enrich our suite of offerings for digital platforms worldwide. These additions aim to empower apps and websites to seamlessly integrate diverse and captivating content, thereby boosting user engagement and advertising revenue by 15-40%.
- Today gaming has become one of the biggest entertainment avenues across users. Can you elaborate?
The rise of gaming as a major entertainment avenue is undeniable. Globally, it’s already surpassed the movie and music industries combined, generating an estimated $200 billion from 3 billion gamers last year alone. This surge can be pinned down to a few key trends.
First, accessibility is a game-changer. Smartphones and tablets have made gaming incredibly convenient, allowing people to play whenever and wherever they have a free moment.
Secondly, gaming has become a social experience. Online multiplayer options foster communities where players connect and share experiences, creating a whole new dimension of engagement.
Finally, the rise of HTML5 technology is transforming the industry. A key benefit of HTML5 is instant play, eliminating the need for downloads and installations. This creates a seamless experience that’s especially appealing to casual gamers who value convenience and speed. With HTML5, launching a game is as simple as a tap, just like watching a video. This focus on accessibility is a major reason why gaming is exploding in popularity.
- How do gaming platforms attract larger ad spending than general entertainment destinations?
Gaming platforms are becoming a prime target for advertisers, surpassing traditional entertainment destinations for several reasons.
First, gamers are the most diverse online demographic – over 3 billion strong. This allows for hyper-targeting that reaches specific audiences based on interests, behaviours, and demographics. This level of precision is unmatched by other advertising avenues.
Secondly, with gaming becoming nearly ubiquitous, it’s a necessity for advertisers of all stripes. Whether they aim for brand awareness or sales, including gaming platforms in their media mix is crucial for reaching target audiences effectively.
Finally, gaming offers unique advantages in engagement and brand storytelling. It’s highly interactive, often surpassing other entertainment formats in user attentiveness. This creates a prime environment for advertising messages to resonate and drive results. Additionally, games allow for non-intrusive brand storytelling through formats like rewarded ads, which incentivize players to watch ads in exchange for in-game rewards. This fosters a more positive brand perception compared to traditional advertising methods.
- Why do you think that brands have a future in gaming?
With over 3 billion gamers worldwide and India alone having 550 million, brands and agencies are increasingly recognizing the potential of gaming. Dentsu, one of the world’s largest advertising agencies, has even launched Dentsu Gaming, a vertical dedicated to helping brands tap into this vast pool of gamers.
Gaming is a highly interactive experience that commands more attention from users than any other form of content. What really sets gaming apart is the diverse audience it attracts. Casual gamers come from all walks of life, representing a broad range of ages, genders, income levels, and language backgrounds.
This diversity creates a unique opportunity for brands to engage with an audience in a way that is highly targeted and effective. Brands that understand the potential of gaming and leverage it properly can reach a vast and engaged audience that is unmatched by any other medium.
At Gamezop, we recognize this potential and offer brands a platform to engage with over 45 million engaged users each month. Our inventory provides the perfect set of targeting parameters to help brands find their next customer.
- How can Gamezop grow its user base to millions without investing in marketing?
Gamezop employs a unique strategy to grow its user base organically without relying on traditional marketing investments. Our games are seamlessly integrated within popular apps and websites, allowing their users to access and play them with a single tap. Currently, our products are integrated into 8,000 apps and websites around the world (such as Opera browser, AccuWeather, Vi) with over 45 million users engaging with our content each month.
Through these partnerships with partnering apps and websites, Gamezop leverages the extensive userbase of its partners to acquire users without incurring any marketing expenses. This approach not only eliminates user acquisition costs but also drives significant engagement for partner apps, with up to 40% boost in user engagement through games, quizzes and other content. Additionally, partner apps receive a 50% share in the ad revenue generated by Gamezop. This way, Gamezop achieved profitability early in its journey, demonstrating the effectiveness of our user acquisition strategy.
- What gaming trends are you seeing in India?
Over the last few years, the gaming industry has seen an explosion in popularity. The biggest win for the industry was the rate at which non-gamers turned to casual gaming. We expect this trend to continue, and gaming will become even more immersive with the adoption of emerging tech, such as Web3 and metaverse.
There are three key trends that we see in the gaming industry:
Marketing dollars chasing casual gamers: We see a shift in marketing dollars towards casual gamers, who represent the most diverse group on the internet. Advertisers will have to tap into this massive pool of potential customers to meet the objectives of their campaigns, whether it’s building brand awareness or driving performance marketing.
Adoption of games within non-gaming products: Another key trend is the significant increase in the adoption of casual games within non-gaming products. This allows users to engage with short, fun experiences within the apps they already use, boosting engagement.
Employment opportunities: Finally, we believe that the gaming industry will continue hiring. While there has been news of layoffs in various sectors, gaming companies will see growing demand for talent as the base of gamers continues to grow globally. We do not expect to see gaming companies with sustainable business models laying off a lot of employees as this industry is likely to be less impacted than others from the looming slowdown.
- What are Gamezop’s new publisher offerings? Tell us a few things about the new products launched?
Building upon our success in gaming and quizzing, we embarked on a strategic expansion of our content portfolio with Astrozop and Criczop.
- Astrozop is an embeddable astrology hub for publishers that engages their users with personalized tarot card readings, daily horoscopes, fortune cookie, and compatibility matches.
- Criczop is an easy-to-integrate cricket portal designed for publishers catering to audiences in cricket-playing nations. It offers live scores, match schedules, commentary, highlights, and trending tweets.
Publishers who collaborate with Gamezop can anticipate a significant uptick in advertising revenue and user retention ranging from 15-40% by incorporating the company’s ready-to-use solutions for gaming, quizzes, astrology, and cricket.
Similar to our flagship gaming product, the newly introduced solutions boast swift integration, taking just 30 minutes, and are completely free for publishers and their users. This approach ensures publishers can enrich their platforms with captivating content without disrupting user experiences or incurring additional expenses.
- Where do you see Gamezop in 5 years? What is next for Gamezop?
At Gamezop, we are on a mission to change the way people consume digital content. We see ourselves as an inter-generational business that bridges the gap between content creators and consumers across the globe. In five years, we envision Gamezop as the go-to platform for discovering and consuming a diverse range of engaging content. Over the next few years, we see ourselves branching out into newer and more exciting content formats, creating a one-stop-shop for all digital content needs.
To achieve this, we are laser-focused on building a world-class distribution network of apps and websites that reaches every corner of the globe. We want to make our content accessible to everyone, regardless of their location or background.
As we expand our reach, we remain committed to delivering the highest quality content to our partners and end-users, while simultaneously focusing on profitability. We firmly believe that the two are not mutually exclusive, and we strive to create a sustainable business model that benefits all parties involved.
