Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Sector

• 24 Feb 2022

For Prelims: AVGC Sector.

For Mains: AVGC Sector, its importance and related issues, Government policies & interventions.

Why in News?

In the Budget 2022-23, the government announced to set up ‘Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics’ (AVGC) task force to “build domestic capacity to serve Indian markets and global demand.”

• Earlier, the Karnataka High Court delivered a judgement striking down major portions of the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, 2021 which banned online gambling and skill-based gaming platforms.
• In 2021, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in collaboration with IIT Bombay decided to form a Centre of Excellence in gaming and other related areas.

What is the importance of the AVGC Sector?

• Play Larger Role in Meeting Global Demand:
  • It will prepare India to play a larger role in building Metaverse, help in catering to the Indian market and in meeting global demand.
    • A metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection and it can be defined as a simulated digital environment that uses Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and blockchain, along with concepts from social media, to create spaces for rich user interaction mimicking the real world.
  • It could also open up new avenues for players and platforms as well as formalise game art education since most in the industry learn experientially.
• Contribution in Revenue:
  • The number of gamers in India grew to about 400 million by mid of 2020 from about 250 million gamers at the end of fiscal year 2018-19.
  • This makes it the second largest base of online gamers in the world after China.
  • Online casual gaming, which forms a large chunk of the total gaming revenue, is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 29% over the next four years to reach revenues of Rs 169 billion by FY25.
• Employment Generation:
  • The potential for job opportunities in the AVGC sector is humongous.
  • The number would vary between around 70,000 to 1.2 lakh job opportunities for the entire space.

What are issues with the AVGC Sector?

• No Formalisation:
  • The AVGC sector is growing rapidly but there’s a void for good programmers, graphic designers or esports managers because there are no formal gaming courses.
• Regulatory Issues:
  • Regulatory clarity continues to be a bug bear for the space as various State governments have dragged these companies to court over allegedly being akin to gambling.
    • This is something that these companies have vehemently denied saying they are not 'games of chance' but rather 'games of skill.'

Way Forward

• There needs to be an equal amount of Central and State participation to ensure regulatory clarity comes out in this space.
• The task force should look into aspects such as how to build capacities, how to embed this into education systems to build more future capabilities.
• It is necessary to find ways to formalise some of the education in this sphere, so that the country has animators, designers and people who can conceptualise, code and create those games and environments from India.

Source: TH