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AFK Gaming
Loco’s founder Anirudh Pandita revealed his vision for the future of gaming in India in an interview with fintech personality Sar Haribhakti. Loco as a homegrown streaming platform has grown rapidly since its launch and it has become the go-to platform to stream content for esports and gaming content creators. Pandita has spent eight years working in the gaming and entertainment industry and he shared excerpts of his experiences in the industry.
The Story of how Loco was created
Pandita had co-founded Pocket Aces which had three major business avenues. The first was direct-to-consumer content with FilterCopy and Dice Media being two of its biggest brands. The second is over-the-top (OTT) content which includes original shows for Netflix, Hotstar, Disney+, Amazon and other platforms. The third business avenue for Pocket Aces was influencer management where the company helped influencers boost their reach and revenue.
Loco was the fourth division but it grew so fast that it was turned into a separate company. Since then, Pandita has spent most of his time at Loco. What helped Loco connect with the young Indian audience was mobile content. Pocket Aces predicted that mobile internet would get cheaper and content distribution would improve significantly. Reliance Jio helped reduce mobile data costs in India and it made 4G accessible to everyone. Free-to-play titles have also helped gaming become a pan India phenomenon.
He revealed, “In 2018, we acquired Showtime, which we rebranded and relaunched as Loco. It became a runaway hit. We got close to one million concurrent users on a single stream, which was a crazy achievement considering the size of our team at the time.” Loco had achieved this feat before the Indian Premier League streams did the same on Hotstar.
The goal of Loco was to “democratize gaming entertainment.” Pandita revealed that gaming is one of the few places where you can strive towards a meritocratic system that is guided only by your hard work and skill.
He envisions Loco as the go-to platform “where gamers can go from being noobs to becoming gaming superstars. We are the campfire for streamers - from beginners to the best; they are all here on Loco. We turbocharge fan experiences - you no longer have to be another user in the crowd. We enable you to find your gaming clan - a community where you belong, play games you care about, and support streamers you love.”
Loco has helped pioneer all kinds of content in India. The platform is home to India’s first esports talk show, the first non-fiction show that documents the journey of Loco streamers, and more.
The Future of Gaming in India
Pandita feels that gaming will continue to evolve over time. Advertising through games and gaming platforms can become a huge source of revenue. The introduction of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India has also helped microtransactions become more accessible to gamers. These are the two important revenue streams that can be game-changers for the gaming industry in the next five years according to Pandita.
Loco has helped gamers use virtual worlds as hangout spots and learn about other places and cultures. It has made socializing more accessible to gamers who do not have access to malls, cinemas, or even playgrounds in some cases. Gaming has evolved into a need instead of a luxury.
Global product analytics company Amplitude recently published its list of global “Next Hottest Products” and Loco was included on the list as the only Indian gaming company. The streaming platform has seen a growth of 900% in its daily active users from June 2021 to June 2022.
