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Tag: gaming

  • FICCI submits its wishlist to Fin Min for M&E sector

    NEW DELHI: National industry body Ficci has demanded that the government must give several tax exemptions and holidays to let the animation, gaming and VFX industries, which is growing faster than the overall entertainment industry, realise its full potential.

     

    Ficci has demanded in the budget for 2008, the government must give a 10-year tax holiday, removal of service and sales taxes on the software used for production for 10 years, exemption of import duty on hardware for 10 years, and other facilitating measures.

    Interestingly, it says also that as there is no Indian channel with 24 X 7 indigenous animation content, 10 per cent of the time on entertainment channels must be reserved for such content. This will give local content and talent a major boost.

    The memorandum from Ficci says that though the animation, gaming and VFX industry is growing in leaps and bounds, the full potential is yet to be tapped, despite the projection that the industry would grow hugely by next year.

    Ficci estimates show that the animation industry today stands at Rs 13 billion and is expected to grow to Rs 43 billion by year 2009, with a CAGR of 35 per cent.

    Similarly, the gaming industry is expected to grow from Rs 360 million to Rs 13.50 billion by 2009, with a CAGR of 78 per cent.

    “The growth rate in these sectors are much higher than overall media & entertainment sector, which is expected to grow at a rate of 19 per cent,” says Ficci. The industry could be a major export revenue earner as well as provide massive employment.

    Ficci says that after Information Technology, the biggest export earners for India are Animation, Gaming and VFX, but the overall business model existing at present, which is a low-end BPO approach, is stunting its growth.

    The Ficci document stresses: “Exports in this vertical can be looked in two ways: one, a purely outsourcing model in which production houses provide services to overseas studios. This is low-end work in the value chain with more of a BPO approach.

    “The other is revenues earned from exporting the finished product (the intellectual property developed in India for domestic / foreign markets) to global audiences.

    “Both the models have tremendous potential for foreign exchange earning for India. But it is better in the long term if we move up the value chain and have indigenous content with both domestic and foreign appeal.”

    Ficci estimates that in the next five years, India would require more than 30,000 trained animators and gaming professionals.

    “If this industry is nurtured properly, it can meet the government‘s objective of employment generation, and the latter should aid in the setting up of centres of excellence on the lines of IITs and IIMs for the animation and gaming industry,” says Ficci.

    Ficci feels that the other direct impact of aiding these industries would be building Brand India better, by engaging the country‘s massive talent pool in creating content for Indian as well as global audiences by transferring India‘s 5,000-year-old time- tested legends into the new media.

    “Animation could be another way of creating “Brand India” among NRIs / PIOs and other global audiences. Currently when India is increasingly garnering attention in the world arena, it is the right time to reach outwards through this medium,” Ficci says.

    Ficci points out to models of Korea, China, Singapore, etc., which enjoyed their respective government support, so much so that 40 per cent of the animated content in the US is Japanese.

    “The reason for such a pattern is that countries like Japan and Canada have developed very strong domestic markets, and once a domestic market gets enough consumable content, the same can be routed for exports,” says the memorandum.

    Ficci reminds that the Korean government sees animation as the most competitive industry for the 21st century, and has provided massive tax reliefs.

    “(Korean) application guidelines specify that companies whose projects have been accepted by a Korean broadcaster can apply for up to 40 per cent of their production budget,” Ficci says, demonstrating the massive support system there.

    So far as the animation industry is concerned, Ficci says that it is now covered under Software Technology Parks of India.

    The problem, says Ficci, is that this holds good for a BPO nature of work where outsourcing is the main module and most of the studios which are getting benefited from STPI have to make sure of an export commitment of more than 85 per cent.

    “As a result many Indian studios wanting to produce original content based intellectual property and use art and talent from India to produce animation stories do not get any such benefits,” explains the memorandum.

    Creating original content in India attracts custom duty and also the freshly levied sales tax (VAT) on off the shelf software (12.2 per cent, which might increase further) and further also the income tax component.

    “This is leading to more and more studios working on foreign content and a severe lack of animated Indian stories in our domestic television schedules,” laments Ficci.

    Hence Ficci‘s key proposals for the animation, gaming and VFX industries are

    • Tax holiday for 10 (ten) years, so that cost of creating intellectual property (original content) comes down drastically and the industry becomes viable
       
    • Removal of Service Tax
       
    • Removal of Sales Tax on the Software used for Animation, Gaming & VFX production for a period of 10 years
       
    • Exemption of Import duty on hardware for a period of 10 years
       
    • Market Development Assistance for overseas business promotion
       
    • 10 per cent mandatory local content on the networks to began with

    “Finally, we feel there is negligible revenue accruing to the exchequer currently as no new Indian IP is getting created. If a tax holiday is given, revenue will flow into the exchequer funds in a couple of years as the industry will gain impetus and encouragement to grow. In this regard the IT sector can be looked at as a role model,” says the Ficci memorandum.

  • Ficci moots 10-yr tax holiday for animation, gaming industries

     
     

    NEW DELHI: With the annual budget coming up, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) is lobbying for a 10-year tax holiday for the animation, gaming and VFX industries.

    Ficci says the sector, which holds tremendous promise, is suffering because the present government policy is to subsidise foreign productions in India, whereas Indian companies are burdened with a slew of taxes.

    Ficci has raised an important cultural point that insiders say might sit well with I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, who has been talking of Indian values rather loudly of late. Ficci feels that due the tax burden, Indian animation companies are not able to produce Indian content and hence an entire generation of Indian children are growing up on a staple of foreign superheroes.
     

    The industry body has also proposed the removal of CVD duty for a period of 10 years. The high-end machines used for the production attracts an import duty, Ficci says, adding that at present the duty structure is high: basic duty of 12.5 per cent, CVD of 16.32 per cent, special CVD of 4 per cent.

    After including educational cess, the overall duty comes out to be 36.8 per cent, it explained.

    The provision for Service Tax is financially hitting Indian animation studios extremely hard, Ficci has said in its budget wishlist.

    “Most of these studios are those that are developing a large amount of original content. Those studios that are export oriented and are thus under STPI are not exposed to the Service Tax at all, whereas the ones that are making or planning to make any Intellectual Property (original Indian content) in India for any client or broadcaster have to pay a service tax of 12.2% (this is going to be @ 12% in the new financial year, as per the latest budget),” says the Ficci paper that indiantelevision.com accessed.
     

    “We all have seen a rapid boom in the software industry, thanks to their exemption from the service tax. There is a big potential for Indian animation studios to grow manifold from where they are right now, the major success of the animation sector will be in creating the original Indian content and distributing it globally,” says the paper.

    It argues that if the country can make special efforts and can exempt animation industry from paying service tax, it would really contribute to a great extent towards promoting the industry and also the traditional and creative artists.

    Explaining the issues in the sector, the Ficci note despairs that the animation as an industry in India is covered under STPI, but STPI predominantly holds good for a BPO nature of work, where outsourcing is the main module and most of the studios which are getting benefited from STPI have to make sure of an export commitment of more than 85 per cent.

    As a result, it holds, many Indian studios wanting to produce original content based intellectual property and use art and talent from India to produce animation stories do not get any such benefits.

    As creating original content in India attracts custom duty and also the freshly levied sales tax (VAT) on off the shelf software, sales tax of 12.2% (which might increase further) and further also the income tax component, the Ficci paper has held.

    Together, these act as a major deterrent against studios producing and creating original content with an Indian heritage base or any other indigenous original content creation within the shores of the country.

    Currently, there is just no encouragement of developing original Indian content to be put forth to the entire world in the form of animation.

    This is leading to more and more studios working on foreign content and is leading to a severe lack of animated Indian stories in our domestic television schedules. In fact in the current scenario there is not one television channel that is exclusively dedicated to the kids showing original Indian content.

    “Hence,” Ficci argues, “our next generations of kids are growing up on a staple diet of foreign superheroes and legends while their exposure to Indian history, culture and heritage is being restricted to school textbooks. Storybooks and comics are being quickly replaced by television content and specially animated television content.

    Ficci has also demanded that the tariff barrier on gaming consoles be reduced, as it is acting as a hindrance to developing such consoles in India and putting the related software sector in a tight spot.

    The paper has argued that the entire tariff of approximately 36.74 per cent is passed through to the customers, translating to high prices for such consoles, which affect affordability and therefore access.

    High tariffs, it says, also lead to the growth of a grey market in products, which for the gaming consoles market in the country stands at 300,000 units, and leads to a loss of revenue to the government.

    Ficci feels the growth of the grey market also limits the government’s ability to ensure high quality and safe experience for customers that desire this exciting entertainment device.

     

    Pricing and affordability are key aspects that can enable the development of the gaming consoles market in India. Rationalization of the tariff structures will therefore mean a more affordable pricing structure that will enable greater market access for such consoles.

    “A recent study conducted by a market research agency, estimates that by lowering the CVD alone, which currently stands at 16.32 per cent, will result in projected import of gaming consoles to the tune of 400,000 units in the next five years,” the paper says.

    Ficci quotes a Nasscomm study and says: “According to Nasscomm, a game that would cost around $3 million to $6 million to develop in the United States can be produced for only $500,000 to $3 million in India.

    “In fact 25 per cent to 30 per cent of the revenues from a blockbuster console-based game, which often match those of a blockbuster Hollywood movie, amounting to $250 million or upwards, is the developers cost,” it adds .

    In addition to this competitive edge of development cost arbitrage, Indian software developers also have the potential to tap into the potentially diverse domestic market for gaming and develop customized games in vernacular languages, thereby broadening the scope of the Indian gaming market.

    Though the Nasscomm study acknowledges that currently the gaming market in India is undeveloped, it projects a potential growth with a CAGR of 78 per cent, amounting to $ 300 million by 2009 . It also projects that the current employment scenario in India in this sector can grow from approximately 600 people employed in the gaming industry in 2005 to approximately 2,000 professionals in 2007.

  • Diptrix.com: Virtual reality grabs kids

    Has anyone heard about the Adventures of Trix Rabbit? Just click your way through the hip hoppity town, to the habitat of the super energetic Trix Rabbit, Diptrix.com. It exemplifies a world of freebies and games galore, a kid‘s haven!

    As marketers look for new ways and means to connect with their consumers, the task becomes doubly hard when the target group is a bunch of kids. In what appears to be an emerging trend among brands today, marketers are increasingly using the concept of community based websites. This provides a medium to directly reach out to each consumer via active engagement with the product, thus strengthening the ‘connect‘ between the two.

    The Dip Trix homepage

    Following this path, General Mills latest offering Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream launched diptrix.com simultaneously with its national rollout in March this year.

    To make a big noise around the new product, the brand aimed at creating a “virtual playground” – a space for their little consumers to have fun through games, sharing stories, trivia and downloads.

    A key hook used to build participation was the oft used collect points proposition (in this case virtual currency “cookies”), which can be exchanged for real life merchandise.

    Additionally, the ‘Hall of Fame‘ announces the names of participants with the highest scores. The leader in this currently is a kid who has gathered more than 10,000 “cookies”.

    Diptrix.com also provides a learning experience for kids via quizzes and an opportunity to express their point of view. The brand mascot Trix Rabbit befriends each visitor guiding them through every section of the site and through a story narrates the Dip Trix experience.
     
     

     

    General Mills, India marketing director Gayatri Yadav believes, “Children of today are increasingly technology savvy, requiring marketers to think of new ways to connect and communicate with them. The traditional modes of TV and print media are no longer enough. It is important to explore new media options that allow not just a one way communication, but a two way dialogue and interactivity. The key is to go beyond brand exposure to brand engagement.”

    Brand mascot Trix Rabbit narrates his story

    It is estimated that the average time spent on the site by the TG (kids between the age group of 6-14 years) ranges from 20-25 minutes. Within the first five months, the site had more than 10,000 registered users, with the monthly average of page views nearing 300,000.

    Unlike other community websites that boast of a huge user base, Diptrix.com is content with its set of loyal visitors. This fulfills one of their key objectives which is to increase frequency of visitors rather than expand their reach. The site epitomizes fun for kids with its cute look and feel and it has been calculated that on an average, kids log on to this site to play the games more than thrice a week. The games differ in complexity making it appropriate to the wide TG, although it may be said that the average age of visitors are approximately 10 year olds.

    The key idea was to provide kids with a space of their own to learn, play and be rewarded for their efforts. This subtly acts as a sphere of empowering the ‘little fellows‘, giving them an incentive to keep them coming back for more. They can redeem these “cookies” for a whole range of branded goodies offered at the online store, from Trix Rabbit caps, T-shirts and bags, to lower value items like stationary and stickers.

    The Krissh and Trix game

    Moreover, the launch of the website was also co-ordinated with the release of Krissh. During a promotional period, the official mask of the Indian superhero was distributed on purchase of Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream. Currently, a Krissh ‘advergame‘ has been posted on the site, which allows kids to put on the mantle of their hero and outrun the ‘silly‘ rabbit thus, redeeming cookies for the mask. This has served as an effective tie-up as the buzz around this has driven traffic to the website.

    The creative team, Hungama.com (Virtual Marketing (India) Pvt.Ltd) handles the website and has worked on several brand websites including Coca Cola and Axe. However, in this case the challenge for them was to develop an online solution for a kid‘s centric category that had to be exciting and addictive. As a result of being a new entrant in the Indian market, the website had to be an integral part of the entire communication mix.

    Kids voice their opinions on Kid Speak

    Besides the buzz sparked off with Krissh, the website was also promoted via on-pack messaging and TV. However, much ideation went into the initiative as kiddies are no longer passive consumers. The creative team tells us that various competitive kids‘ websites and other consumer engagement websites were analyzed while preparing the content strategy for the Dip Trix website. To keep a tab on the activity on the site, Hungama.com has an in-house tracking and reporting application and follows web trends to monitor page views and visitor analysis, in order to study the behaviour of registered users. “To have a set of loyal visitors to your website, community building is one of the best tools available.”

    To sustain the hype around diptrix.com, content is regularly updated to keep the interest levels high. Two new games are added every month while other sections are updated on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

    Besides, there are plans to introduce new branded merchandise like watches and umbrellas in the coming weeks, as a trend has been observed whereby, kids are accumulating a huge amount of “cookies.” To prevent stagnation, these new items will be of higher value thus allowing kids to redeem the bulk of points collected.

    Kids can download wallpapers & more

    What is also interesting is that this activity also allows for a ‘sharing experience‘ among kids and their parents. As parents guide their kids through the site, it creates for quality time spent and includes parental involvement. Parents are even kept informed about their kid‘s activities and the freebies they win on the site.

    As every brand attempts to give its customer the value of an emotional connect, Dip Trix Cookies ‘n‘ Cream believes, “The website is not about generating brand sales but about building an enduring and vibrant relationship with the Indian child. We see this as a long term channel to interact and engage with the child, and build a brand via a relationship, not just messaging, via creating a community and not just communication.”
     

  • ATI, Nokia in strategic partnership for mobile multimedia technology

    MUMBAI: Canada-headquartered 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions provider ATI Technologies Inc. and Nokia have entered into a long-term strategic relationship to bring enhanced mobile multimedia experiences to Nokia customers.

    The companies are now working closely together to drive multimedia experiences such as music playback, 3D gaming, mobile TV, video and more for Nokia mobile device users worldwide.

    “Working with ATI underscores the commitment that Nokia has in providing unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences to consumers. With the mobile device now at the center of people‘s lives, we want people to have access to fantastic mobile content when and where they want. We are announcing our collaboration with ATI now, so that developers have the next 12 to 18 months to be innovative and create world class mobile multimedia experiences,” said Nokia senior vice president multimedia experiences Ilkka Raiskinen.

    With mobile devices becoming ever more powerful and complex, ATI and Nokia are working to drive the complexity out of multimedia development by promoting open standards and providing integrated hardware, software and tools. In this way, developers need only create content once for consumers to enjoy on a range of devices. Specifically, ATI aims to provide a dedicated tools chain and software development kit (SDK) for developers in the fall of 2006. ATI and Nokia will also hold a series of joint workshops in the second half of this year to showcase the environment to key developers, states an official release.

     

    “Our role is to enable all content, from ultra-high quality music playback to 3D gaming, and we‘ll jointly guide and support the members of the content development community as they focus on creating amazing user experiences. With a shared vision of how multimedia impacts the mobile market, Nokia and ATI are providing much needed direction and a framework to move the whole industry forward,” said ATI vice president and general manager handheld products Paul Dal Santo.
  • ‘Create high impact content to unite audiences and then monetise’: Nair

    ‘Create high impact content to unite audiences and then monetise’: Nair

    MUMBAI: “Distraction is a one night stand, attraction is a marriage,” said Star Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair. Speaking at FICCI Frames on ‘Attraction in the age of distraction,’ Nair stressed on the fact that creating compelling content for an audience who is constantly on the move and has multiple choices available was of utmost importance.

    “Content will continue to remain king. A new generation of media consumers has risen who want and demand content delivered to them when they want it, how they want and where they want it. Power is moving away from the old elite in our industry,” Nair said.

    Nair stressed on the fact that the broadcasters required to create high impact content to unite audiences and then monetise the fragments over time, space and applications. Examples of these that Nair mentioned were The Simpsons, which gained popularity with the television series and also proved to be a rage in the U.S when it diversified into various areas like merchandising and T-Shirts. Also, another example was The Walt Disney Television International with its various divisions like theme parks, merchandising, publishing, licensing, television, theatre, television production and distribution.

    “The number of television channels in the country has also grown tremendously in the last few years. Almost a 100 channels were launched in the last four years,” Nair said.

    He also threw light on the different delivery platforms namely IPTV, DTH, broadband, mobile SMS, multiplexes, gaming, internet that more and more consumers were accessing increasingly.

    Some formats that have worked well for the Star India network are Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), Nach Baliye and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge (TGILC). Star launched mobisodes around TGILC, went online with the KBC game on their website and garnered a huge response from the audiences around the shows. “The important thing is to use 360 degree communication in order to reach unified audiences in a fragmenting environment,” said Nair.