New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) India accounted for almost 18 per cent of global Android game downloads, reinforcing its position as one of the world's largest mobile gaming markets, although its monetisation patterns remain markedly different from global trends, according to a report released on Tuesday. 

According to a report by Mintegral, the country accounted for 17.8 per cent of global Android game downloads, while contributing 2.8 per cent of global iOS downloads, underscoring the country's overwhelmingly Android-first gaming landscape.

Android represented 97.5 per cent of all game downloads in India, compared with 85.9 per cent globally, making it the primary platform for user acquisition, product testing and audience expansion, it added.

It further stated that India remains one of the world's most cost-efficient gaming acquisition markets, estimating a 19.9-fold difference between global Android cost-per-install (CPI) benchmarks and India's average CPI.

The report also highlighted differences in advertising economics, with about 22-fold gap between global Android rewarded-video effective cost per mille (eCPM) benchmarks and Indian market eCPMs.

63 per cent of India's overall gaming revenue across platforms is generated through in-app advertising (IAA), it said. 

However, about 70 per cent of Android gaming revenue comes from in-app purchases (IAP), indicating platform-specific monetisation strategies.

Casual, hypercasual and mid-core or hardcore games together accounted for 57.5 per cent of game downloads, providing large-scale opportunities for user acquisition, while monetisation models varied across genres.

The report also found that leading global gaming apps generally use a wider mix of user acquisition channels than Indian publishers.

Top global puzzle games utilise an average of 20 acquisition channels, compared with 14 in India, while card and board games use 17 channels globally against nine in the Indian market.

Moreover, the report showed that Google's ecosystem remained the largest contributor to gaming installs in India, while original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and alternative app distribution channels together accounted for around one-fourth of installs.