Pune-based game development firm SuperGaming plans to kickstart pre-registrations for its upcoming made-in-India battle royale title Indus on Google Play Store and Apple App Store later this year.
The startup shared its plans as it debuted the first trailer for the title on August 15, which was also showcased at New York's Time Square. The title was first unveiled by SuperGaming in February 2022 and is expected to be available on mobile platforms, consoles and personal computers (PC) later this year.
The game features the Indus Valley civilisation as the backdrop of the story and is set in an Indo-Futuristic setting, which the company describes as a "world which is unapologetically Indian in its exploration and representation of science fiction". It said the goal is to "create a sci-fi universe that represents India and its ideas while being inclusive".
"We don't look at this as a way to simply show off India and its culture as you already know it and call it a day. Rather, we want to surface those parts that may not be really well known, but deserve recognition — locally and internationally. More importantly we want to revisit them through the positive, hopeful lens of Indo-Futurism," the company said in a statement.
SuperGaming co-founder and CEO Roby John said Indus is at a stage where they are able to play it in-house within the development team on a regular basis. "While there’s still some work to be done before we can bring Indus to all of you, this trailer shows what we’re crafting to match your expectations and our ambition of putting India on the global gaming map," he said.
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The startup has previously developed popular games such as multiplayer shooter title MaskGun that claims to have clocked over 64 million players since its inception and social deduction title Silly Royale that claims to have registered over 20 million players in a year. It counts Akatsuki Entertainment Technology Fund, Skycatcher, BAce Capital and Dream Incubator among its investors.
SuperGaming said it conducted a community playtest for the title at its studio in Pune earlier this month, which included players, content creators, and esports pros as well as select people chosen from those who registered for the event, to gain initial feedback and improve the game experience. "We can't build a better game without knowing who we're building it for and what they want" John said.
The company noted that most entries for the event were from Pune followed by Delhi, Gujarat, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala with the average age of players being under 25.
In May 2022, e-sports and skill gaming app Mobile Premier League (MPL)'s gaming studio Mayhem Studios had also unveiled its first gaming title called "Underworld Gang Wars". The battle royale game, which will be set in India, had crossed more than two million pre-registrations in less than two weeks in June this year.
