Houseparty sees 159 times growth in subscribers during lockdown

Houseparty is among the top video chat apps that Indians are using but not for work, instead people are coming together to attend virtual parties.

From playing games to watching concerts together with friends and family, Houseparty has become the go to platform for those who want to socialise yet maintain physical distancing.

Although the app has been used for professional meetings, Quentin Staes-Polet, General Manager at Epic Games (India and Southeast Asia), said their focus is on the social networking aspect. It is a face to face social network, he said.

Epic Games is also the creator of the popular game Fortnite.

While the platform was little known in India before the coronavirus outbreak, the COVID-19 led lockdown has resulted in strong growth in its user base and downloads for the platform.

“Since the beginning of the lockdown, we saw massive increase in subscribers, about 159 times growth between March 14 and April 13," Polet, told Moneycontrol.

While he did not share how many times the app was downloaded in India, Polet pointed out that Houseparty saw more than 50 million sign-ups globally between March 14 and April 13.

With India being in the top 10 markets list for Houseparty, localisation of the app and its content is something the makers are focusing on.

“Content localisation will mean content in different languages. Plus, we will also be picking up games specific to a market or content like music and movies as well,” he said.

With the focus on entertainment, games and virtual concerts could also become a source of revenue for the platform.

Giving no confirmation, Polet said, “We might charge for some premium games and events.”

As of now, Houseparty has no revenue model and the focus is on refining the app, Polet said.

Games are an integral part of the Houseparty app as people are coming on to the platform to not just converse but to have fun and they are doing so by playing games online on the app.

The platform has games like heads up, trivia, chips, and quick draw.

“Nearly half of the people having a conversation on Houseparty are playing games. The story in India is somewhat similar,” he said.

Along with games, the app also holds concerts. Recently international performers like Katy Perry and Snoop Dog did virtual concerts.

While Indian celebrities are not doing concerts on the platform, many are using the app to party virtually. From Kareena Kapoor, Karan Johar to Malaika Arora, many Bollywood celebrities are on the Houseparty app to hang out with their friends online.

Despite the rise in usage, there have been safety concerns around Houseparty. Clarifying about data breach, Polet said there has been no exposure of customer data or third-party accounts and added that it was a malicious rumour.