Rakhi Sawant Fan Website

While the Men in Blue go for boundaries and bouncers in the Caribbean, maybe you can put together your own Dream XI — online. The gaming arcade on the Internet mirrors the real world — and it goes beyond a sophisticated game of cricket or crossword. It also goes sleazy with games where you slap a virtual Jade Goody and smooch the Rakhi Sawant of cyberia.

The ICC World Cup has added to the craze, with cricket sites like playcricketonline.com getting more hits everyday. Twenty-two yards are reduced to a 15-inch monitor and the joystick is both ball and bat. “The market is booming like never before and the number of online gamers is increasing by the day. We have more than 25,000 new visitors on our site each day,” claims Alok Kejriwal, founder and CEO of games2win.com.

The game has only begun, though. According to a survey conducted by San Francisco-based analyst and consulting firm Pearl Research, the online gaming market in India will exceed USD 200 million in 2010. The factors responsible for it include the rapid spread of the Internet, broadband penetration and a sizable middle-class with an increasing disposable income.

The market is gearing up with more service providers and gaming options. Each website boasts more than 100 games in its kitty and they are centred on action, sport, lifestyle, puzzles and even Bollywood. The Indian gaming portals that were introduced just last year include games2win.com, gaminghungama.com, indiagames.com, zapak.com and motafish.com.

Predictably, the core target group is the 12-20-year-olds. They comprise more than 50 per cent of the clientele. “They are our primary customers and most of the games are formulated keeping them in mind,” says Rohit Sharma, chief operating officer of zapak.com, a venture of the Reliance ADA Group, that was launched in November last year.

Attempts are on to net the uninitiated. Zapak.com, for instance, has a special section for girls, with a series of arcade and logic-based games. “These are not action-oriented games and are less violent,” says Sharma, who plans to introduce fashion-based games in this category.

Meanwhile, thisismyindia.com targets children aged between 5 and 11, with Sudoku and Ninja games. “These are simple games in terms of technology,” says Ishrat Akhter, CEO of Concern Infotech that has developed the site. “We don’t offer violent games that can leave a negative impact on children.”

Games2win.com turns news into games. If its Kiss-Mat is a crude take on the controversial Sawant-Mika kiss, in Prince of Kurukshetra, a little boy needs to be saved from the dungeon, and in Thapa Ka Thappad one can whack a virtual Goody or Manu Sharma. Says Kejriwal, “Generally the game is introduced three days after the news comes out. Loads of things are happening around us and it is not difficult to find a theme for a game.”

The gaming portals are fighting the main criticism against them — that online games discourage social networking — by encouraging the formation of communities on websites. “What gives online games an edge over consoles and CD packs is that they allow you to play with people from across the world,” says 18-year-old Risha Chopra, an avid gamer, who frequents online gaming sites. “You can meet people who have a common interest and can even share personal information once you feel comfortable with a co-gamer. I’ve made a lot of friends through online games.”

If that is not enough reason to play in cyberia, there is added booty in the form of loyalty programmes and reward points. The market for games will only get bigger and better.