Even as video games are emerging as the fastest growing form of entertainment in the United States, Indian animation studios are fast looking towards game development as an alternative revenue source to keep their engines chugging.

Consider these :-
~ In 2003 video game sales at US $9.4 billion surpassed US Box Office collections.
(Source Ad Age)

~ Multinationals like Coke, Chrysler and Procter & Gamble are creating advergames (Games featured around brands) in their bid to get consumers involved with their brands

~ Online Gaming has dethroned watching sports as the favourite passtime amongst a growing number of young adult males in developed economies like the US and the UK.

In addition to animators and designers, game development also requires a large number of programmers. This augurs well for India which has one of the worlds largest programmer base.

Last week Animation 'xpress broke the news about Jadooworks' new gaming venture, promising a detailed report to a follow. Details like the publisher and name of the game are not yet available, but the following is a lowdown on whatever information Animation 'xpress could get from Jadooworks.

The Indian studio which is still to announce the publisher for their as yet unnamed gaming venture, recently participated in E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) LA, where
according to Jadooworks senior marketing manager Raj Gopal Iyer,"some of the big names in the gaming business showed interest in the game".

A world renowned game designer has been roped in to conceptualise and assist in the development of the game which is being created for the PS-2 and XBox platforms, a PC launch is also being considered. The studio would be the creator of the game and also have a stake in it.

The multilevel game will be action packed yet stay away from blood and gore. One of the USPs of the game would be actual usage of Physics and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Worldwide the game development cycle takes around 2 years to complete.The studio which has a large graphics team owing to its animation work, aims to bring down the time taken for developing the game by at least 6 months. It proposes to complete developing in 18 months time.

"That would also be one of the key factors for us to remain competitive in the international gaming business." quipped Raj.