Pune-based game development studio SuperGaming on August 16 released its made-in-India battle royale title Indus in open beta, over two-and-a-half years after its initial announcement.
The game is available as a free download on Google Play Store for Android users. iOS users can access the beta version through an invitation link using Apple's TestFlight app testing platform.
SuperGaming began pre-registrations for Indus on Android in January 2023 and on iOS in July this year. The company claims to have more than 12 million pre-registrations.
"With the launch of the open beta for Indus Battle Royale, we are looking forward to welcoming a broader audience to experience the game. This phase is a vital part of our development as it allows us to gather feedback from a wider player base beyond our closed beta group," SuperGaming co-founder Roby John said. The game was launched in closed beta in February 2024.
Indus is the most ambitious title for the gaming studio, which has previously developed popular games such as the multiplayer shooter title MaskGun, social deduction title Silly Royale, tower defence game Tower Conquest and a casual shooter game Battle Stars.
The game, announced in January 2022, is set in ‘Indo-Futurism,’ which the startup describes as a futuristic world that is “unapologetically Indian in its exploration and representation of science fiction”. It is heavily inspired by Indian culture and mythology and features the Indus Valley civilisation as the backdrop of the story.
Read: How SuperGaming plans to build India's Fortnite with Indus
Battle royale for bigger market share
SuperGaming claims that the game will be playable in low-end Android smartphones priced at about Rs 8,000, thereby making it accessible to a wide set of players across the world.
This will be critical for Indus as it looks to take on rival titles in the battle royale genre, where online players fight to the death until only one remains.
The genre is dominated by Krafton's Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Garena's Free Fire, with other players including Epic Games-owned Fortnite, Microsoft's Call of Duty and Respawn Entertainment's Apex Legends.
Mayhem Studios, the studio backed by skill-gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League (MPL), announced the closed beta of its battle royale title Underworld Gang Wars in January.
In November 2023, SuperGaming announced an integration with Fortnite to attract a global audience. As part of this integration, players will be able to experience Indus’ gameplay, map, and modes in Fortnite's creator mode on PC and macOS.
New features
With the open beta, John said they have introduced a new “Grudge” feature, which adds revenge as a gameplay mechanism. This feature activates when a player is eliminated by another, giving the eliminated player the option to declare a “Grudge” against their slayer.
If the player chooses this option, the game will preferentially match the two players together in future games for a chance at redemption, he said.
SuperGaming counts Pac-Man, Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco, Akatsuki Entertainment Technology Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Skycatcher, BAce Capital and Dream Incubator among its investors.
SuperGaming said that it would also unveil a new version of its content creator programme Indus Insiders. The programme will offer participants opportunities to collaborate with the development team to create engaging content, the company said.
India is the fastest-growing games market in Asia, both in terms of revenue and gamers, according to Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm that covers video games, e-sports and streaming in the continent.
The combined mobile, PC and console gaming revenue is projected to reach $943 million in 2024, up 13.6 percent from the previous year.
The market is expected to surpass $1 billion in revenue in 2025 and reach $1.4 billion in 2028, growing at a 5-year compound annual growth rate of 11.1 percent, it said. These figures do not include revenues from real-money games or exports.
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