New Delhi: Increasing smartphone penetration and convenient digital payment options will drive the online gamers base in the country to more than double to 310 million by 2021, a report by Google-KPMG on Wednesday said.


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It also projects that the online gaming industry in India will gain momentum and grow at 20 per cent to USD 1 billion by 2021, from the current USD 360 million.


Interestingly, a 22X growth is expected this year in revenue generated by top 100 freemium games over paid apps.


Many app developers follow the 'freemium model' that offers the app for free but players have to pay for using proprietary features, functionality, or purchasing virtual goods.


"With a 117 per cent spike in searches for online games by Indians, it is estimated that the current online gamer base of 120 million gamers in 2016 will grow to 310 million by 2021," the report titled 'Online Gaming in India: 2021' said.


About 75 per cent of the respondents, who were part of the study said they have phones priced below Rs 20,000.


Also, the mix includes casual gamers who prefer more puzzle games as well as heavy gamers, who opt for strategy games.


Young gamers play upto six different games on their devices and there is a strong influence of referrals and peer groups.


The report covered over 3,000 respondents across metros and cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Agartala and Shillong.