Octro to Expand its Business Overseas

Indian online gaming company Octro is going to expand its business overseas.

“By March of 2021, we would start the user acquisition for international markets,” Manav Sethi, Chief Marketing Officer of Octro, said.

He claimed that the company has seen 100% growth year-on-year, and its revenue is in three digits of crore on Indian currency.

Sethi said that the move of some state governments to ban online gaming is helping gaming companies that are registered outside India.

Octro owns online games including PlayRummy, Teen Patti, Indian Rummy, Tambola and Soccer Battles. The company’s card games involve real money transactions that it calls a game of skills.

“We have gotten growth on these sides, basically the card and casino side. We have also seen some success on the real money gaming side. So, why don’t we take these IPs (internet protocol) international. That is where our next round of investment in terms of capital, people and time is going into. We have two very clear tracks – build an IP that can go global, and the second track is to take our existing IP globally,” Sethi said.

Talking about the impact of the recent move of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments that recently to ban online games, Sethi said a lot of lottery- or speculations-based gaming platforms from overseas have started reaching out to Indians that do not even fall in the category of game of skills.

“A lottery is a game of chance, roulette is a game of chance. A lot of these foreign incorporated entities have already entered India and are already enticing Indians to play them. There is no regulation that bans them,” Sethi said.

He added that the money that should accrue to Indian exchequers, or the taxes that should accrue to Indian governments by this ban, all of that is moving to those entities that are not incorporated in India.