Salone Sehgal On The Idea Of Digital Decolonisation With Naavik's Metacast

The Indian gamer never followed the West's path from arcade to console to mobile. Paid games, free-to-play, video chat, messaging and multiplayer all arrived at once, which is why India's players grew up social, multiplayer and mobile-first.

Naavik's Metacast sits down with Salone Sehgal, Founder and Managing Partner of Lumikai, to unpack what that means for anyone building or investing in India's games, interactive media and digital platforms.

She explains why games need specialist investors, from building a portfolio in a hit-driven business to the fact that nearly 90% of gaming exits happen through M&A, and why the best time to invest in a sector is when it defies its prevailing narrative. Lumikai's own research did just that in 2021, showing India had the highest share of first-time paying users of any country for two years running, with around 100Mn Indians expected to pay for games that year. Salone points to portfolio companies already proving the point, from Eloelo, a creator-led live social gaming platform targeting Tier 2 and Tier 3 audiences where a majority of creators are women, to Bombay Play, a hyper-social innovation factory of cross-platform instant games built for India and the world, which was profitable within nine months.

She also introduces the idea of digital decolonisation, as Indians reclaim their digital identities through regional languages and culture, and offers a clear-eyed take on blockchain gaming and the metaverse, where she sees real promise alongside a need for caution.

If you want to know where the next billion gamers were coming from, start at the source.

Press play and hear where the thesis began.