The net gaming sector continues to flash round 50,000-60,000 open roles
| Picture Credit score:
Sabrina Bracher
When hiring corporations had estimated the real-money gaming (RMG) ban to have an effect on almost 2 lakh jobs in India’s gaming sector, many had voiced the rhetoric “the place will this workforce go?” Roughly 5 months since, the trade has responded by retaining current expertise and ramping up hiring inside different e-gaming segments comparable to recreation growth studios and IP-related jobs to navigate the newly regulated area.
India’s on-line gaming ecosystem has stored hiring demand excessive with core growth recreation roles taking the lion’s share of the demand. The sector continues to flash round 50,000-60,000 open roles, Sarbojit Mallick, Co-founder of Instahyre, advised businessline citing jobs posted of their database. Core recreation growth comparable to Unity/Unreal builders, backend engineers, 3D artists, designers, accounted for 70-80 per cent of complete open positions, as Indian studios shift towards higher-end and AAA-quality titles.
In the meantime, esports-driven neighborhood roles comparable to event managers, neighborhood managers, content material creators, gameplay analysts accounted for 5-10 per cent of complete positions, indicating quick progress. Advertising, in-game monetisation, and neighborhood engagement roles reported regular progress, tied to live-streaming ops, viewers retention and world publishing ambitions.
“We expect complete gaming employment in India would possibly develop round 60-70 per cent by end-2026, regardless of the affect of the real-money gaming ban,” stated Mallick.
Somewhat than discouraging participation, the Promotion and Regulation of On-line Gaming Act, 2025, clearly demarcated e-games from RMG and bolstered belief amongst players, as per a nationwide survey executed by JetSynthesys and YouGov. It confirmed that 75 per cent of Indian esports gamers viewing the sector as a viable profession choice, whereas 56 per cent of gamers expressed curiosity in roles like coaches, analysts, staff managers or occasion organisers, and so on.
“This exhibits that like some other skilled sporting ecosystem, there’s a higher curiosity and a giant alternative. Many athletes have gotten streamers, entertain their communities, construct their audiences, to monetise their expertise past enjoying the game,” stated Rajan Navani, Founder & CEO of Jetsynthesys.
Retaining expertise
Based on Aditya Narayan Mishra – MD and CEO of CIEL HR, the shutdowns in August 2025 have been largely restricted to RMG corporations, resulting in a short lived hiring pause in that section.
Because it seems, a number of the workforce managed to be reabsorbed in different corporations. After the ban, Felicity Video games gained a brand new Head of Engineering and Head of Analytics from one of many high RMG corporations.
“That is expertise which in any other case would have been extremely troublesome to seek out. In that sense, the ban was an important factor for different types of gaming industries to thrive and globally,” Anurag Choudhary, Founder and CEO of Felicity, stated. Equally, DreamSports in December stated it can retain all its expertise even after the ban and redistribute staff amongst its seven different platforms.
Nonetheless, for the workforce, the sting from the sudden RMG ban stays. After talking to a number of the expertise within the gaming sector, Meet Shah, Founder and CEO, BeBetta, advised businessline how some individuals don’t need to get into gaming any longer however have a look at a distinct trade.
“It has been a really troublesome time for lots of those individuals who needed to be let go due to the ban. We’ve to take a look at from their standpoint as nicely. In a single day, your job is gone. It leaves a mark,” he stated.
Maybe contemplating such incidents, people within the JetSynthesys survey listed additional authorities recognition, entry to profession counselling and mentorship as clear priorities to additional strengthen the sector. For now, stakeholders stay optimistic for the job prospects in e-gaming.
Printed on January 21, 2026
