Mentioned in this article
- Blizzard Entertainment will make its online services available to gamers in India through a partnership with NODWIN Gaming.
- Gamers can purchase digital balance cards with Indian Rupees, which are Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliant, and use these on Activision Blizzard online products.
- Like China, Indians have evolved as freemium gamers, and e-wallets and gift cards are seen as a way of potentially easing the payment process.
Blizzard Entertainment will work with NODWIN Gaming to bring digital distribution of its online services to Indian gamers for the first time. Players will be able to buy digital balance cards offered in Indian rupees, which will be GST compliant, and available through ecommerce platforms including Amazon, Digistore, Flipkart, and NOWDIN’s own payment gateway Novaplay.
The list of available products includes not just games in Blizzard’s list of franchises, such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and StarCraft, but also Activision Blizzard partner series, such as Call of Duty, as well as event based purchases, such as virtual BlizzCon tickets.
”NODWIN was founded by two guys and their immense love for StarCraft, the iconic Blizzard game,” said Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, in a statement.
“We believe in the phenomenal lore of the Blizzard universe and that gamers should always have easy access to all Blizzard products in India. NODWIN has always stood for making gaming more accessible and this is hopefully the first of many steps to bring Blizzard closer to the Indian gaming community.”
The Blizzard Balance will be offered in set denominations, ranging from ₹360 INR ($5 USD), to ₹8496 ($115), on application of 18% GST. Founded in 2012, NODWIN has for a long time run similar services for game publisher Valve, such as operating game servers, data services, payment and remittance services, and hardware for its digital distribution service Steam.
India is a major provider of skill and talent for modern video games, with over 275 game development companies operating in the region in 2019, according to KPMG. However, its high population of gamers playing freemium mobile games has led to overall low online entertainment spends. Gift cards and similar services are seen as a way for foreign PC gaming companies to lower the minimum spend in the region, and change the perception of high pricing among Indian gamers.
Credit: Source link
