Need for regulatory discipline in gaming sector: Loco

Pitching for regulatory discipline in the gaming sector, homegrown game streaming platform Loco said the multiplayer battle game PUBG's suspension had a positive impact on the segment.

"There's a very clear mandate from MeitY on how games should be released in India, and I think, that is the most positive outcome of the (PUBG) suspension. Other games are also looking at this and saying, India has a proper structure," Loco founder Anirudh Pandita told PTI.

On developments in the gaming space, especially taxation, Pandita said every regulatory power or government in the world has gone through phases of understanding and taxing games in a certain way.

"While real money gaming...is not impacting us, in the actual gaming sector, there is obviously a need for regulatory discipline. We should always understand (the government's) perspective. As entrepreneurs, we forget they have far more headaches than we do. But, in my conversations with many government officials were very open and much smarter than any of the people you know," Pandita said.

Terming Loco as a watercooler for gamers, Pandita traced the gaming company's roots from streaming and culture-creating platform Pocket Aces, which he co-founded. Pocket Aces was recently acquired by the music company Saregama. 

"...with the advent of the phone and them getting better and better, and data charges getting cheaper, we saw the breakout of multiplayer games like PUBG mobile," he said.

Speaking about their investor BGMI-parent Krafton, Pandita lauded the company's regulatory compliance "to give India a game it loves".

"They followed all the rules now, and I think, they have also prepared that regulatory path for other games. They have come back and created a way for others, and...you are going to see Free Fire also coming back now in the next month or so," he said. 

Pandita said the company plans to expand in the Middle East and Latin America.