We plan to grow Dangal Games’ user base to 150 mn in the next 5 years: Varun Mahna

Dangal Games, one of India’s prominent online skill-based gaming platforms, recently announced the launch of their Gaming App. With this release, the brand plans to enter the market of casual gaming.

The announcement is in line with the Series A, $1 million funding raised by the brand in January 2021. The Dangal Games app will be a flagship unified multi-gaming platform and is aiming to penetrate into the mass population of India with casual games like: 8 ball Pool, Carrom, Racing, Quiz and so on. The application will initially be available for Android users and on the website from where users can download it easily without any hassle. It will be very useful for the player to play on unified platforms.

Adgully spoke to Varun Mahna, Founder & CEO of Dangal Games, to know more about their thought behind launching a unified application, their current DAU and MAU, performance of their flagship games and much more.

What was the thought behind launching a unified application of Dangal Games? How will it help strengthen your offerings?

We started Dangal Games in September 2017 with a single platform called Super Dangal. Since then the vision has always been to provide our consumers with the best gaming experience in India. With respect to Poker, Rummy and Fantasy Sports, we have covered the three very huge pillars of the gaming sector. The only sector missing in our offerings were the casual gaming and esports vertical, which we are now offering in Mayur Games. In addition to these four different verticals, Dangal Games will also provide the users the access to all these games from a single platform. We are providing consumers with a complete wholesome experience when it comes to gaming and we are going to satisfy the users’ different needs of gaming from a single platform. Dangal Games offers the best user experience, comfort and ease of accessibility of the game they love. It provides a wholesome entertainment experience and we are rewarding them for their skills.

At the time of the announcing the unified app, you had stated that Dangal Games is aiming to reach 8 crore users in 2 years. How do you plan to achieve this and increase your reach?

We think the gaming audience in India is increasing by each minute, there is an estimated potential audience of around 40 crore in India. This number of gamers is expected to double in the next 2-3 years. So, as a potential audience for the gaming ecosystem it’s huge in India. Gaming is something which every Indian with a smartphone does, irrespective of the geographic divide or the part of India they are based in. It’s a very universal appeal which gaming has over the audience, so there is definitely a very huge potential audience. We are offering these consumers something which will attract them to this platform. In addition to that we have some very aggressive marketing plans as we grow and continue to be in the system.

What are your current daily active users (DAU) and monthly active users (MAU)?

We have 400,000 to 600,000 users on the platform every month now.

Could you tell us about the performance and growth of your flagship products – PokerDangal, RummyDangal and FantasyDangal, especially during the pandemic and lockdown period?

We have been growing very aggressively with all our verticals in the last 2 years. Focus on upside of 50% in the last pandemic, Rummy Dangal has been growing 20-25% every month and fantasy has seen a three digit growth in the first quarter. So, we are very bullish on the growth numbers of the companies in which we are operating. Definitely we see Fantasy and Rummy being huge growth rivals for us in the next two years.

The Madras High Court recently quashed the Tamil Nadu government’s ban on online betting game. How do you view this judgement and what does it mean for the gaming ecosystem?

I think it’s a very progressive judgement given by the honorable court of Madras. I have always taken industry rules and regulations. Dangal Games follows very strong self-regulatory practices to ensure that we are giving the best experience to the consumers as well as protecting their rights. We believe regulation in this sector is seen to sustain the growth of the sector and to make it even more mainstream, as we continue to grow. So, it’s a right step in the positive direction and we hope that it is something which will continue to happen for the sector as a whole.

What should the gaming industry do to build the tech capabilities? Does India have enough skilled manpower to take this industry to the next level?

Definitely in terms of talent, India is setting to none. We know the kind of tech capability India has because we are the one of the largest providers of IT solutions to the world. So, definitely Tech is something which we have the capability towards. So, it has to be more rewarding for the people to take it as a profession and definitely people need to get rewarded for creating good games, creating great platforms and creating great experiences. As we continue to grow, Tech will continue to be a very important path for us.

Esports, casual gaming, betting games, skill-based gaming, fantasy gaming – with so many different components, where do you see the gaming industry in India headed? What are some future projections that you want to share? Where do you see Dangal Games placed in the overall gaming market in India over the next 5 years?

Gaming industry in India is going to be one of the most dominant sectors in the next 5 years. It is going to be more mainstream, it is going to be a great employment driver and it is going to be a great revenue generator for the economy as well. So, it is going to have a great part to play in the Indian economy and Indian growth story as we continue to grow as a country and evolve as a country. We plan to grow the user base on Dangal Games to 150 million users in the next 5 years. We hope that we will be able to provide a great experience to users as we continue to grow.

Dangal Games raised $1 million in Series A round of funding. Are you planning to go the IPO route any time soon?

No, that is not on the roadmap for the next couple of years, but it’s great to see Indian start-ups take that route because it creates a lot of positive confidence in the gaming community.