MPL signs MoU with Telangana to set up game development centre

Hyderabad, Nov 16 (IANS) Mobile Premier League, an online gaming platform, will set up a game development centre in Telangana employing 500 youths in the state.

It signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government on the sidelines of IndiaJoy 2021, which began here on Tuesday.

Under the MoU, the state government will allot a dedicated 500 seat facility for Mobile Premier League in IMAGE Towers with an understanding from MPL to share technology know-how and hire local talent.

Principal secretary for information technology, electronics and communication department, government of Telangana, Jayesh Ranjan and Mobile Premier League CEO Sai Srinivas Kiran signed the MoU in the presence of minister for information technology and industry K.T. Rama Rao.

The MPL will work with Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge (TASK) to introduce special game development, animation and sports focussed courses to enhance the available talent pool in the state.

Four-day IndiaJoy, Asia's largest digital entertainment festival themed "Virtual is Reality" began with participation from technology leaders from several countries, including the leading industry voices.

During his speech minister KTR exuded confidence that this will become a signature event for the IMAGE industry and then build a strong reputation as an aggregator of different domain events that used to take place separately.

He noted Hyderabad based gaming companies have also made the best of the new market opportunities created during the pandemic. He pointed out 45 companies have chosen Hyderabad as their destination in the gaming sector in the last two years taking the total to 80.

A recent study has shown that India's active Internet user base is expected to reach 900 million by 2025, a 45 per cent increase since last year.

Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming Association (TVAGA) President Rajiv Chilaka said the pandemic had given an opportunity to create IndiaJoy 2021 and bring the tech community together on a wider, far more impactful stage, with a click of a button.

"2020 was tough for the industry including ours, while gaming animation, VFX suffered because shooting stopped. The industry witnessed a decline of 10 per cent growth. But the good thing is that companies invested into R&D and IP and innovated the current business plans, which will yield great results in the future," he said.

Biren Ghose, Chairman CII National Committee for AVGC & Country Head - Technicolor India, said Telangana has shown strong strategic intent in partnering industry and academia with enabling policy and infrastructure support to take the games, VFX and animation industries to new levels of performance. IndiaJoy is the forum that celebrates the milestones and acts as a torchbearer for the state.

The future is going to be about skills, AVGC has gone through steep revolutions. We believe drop-out from schools, and women if absorbed into the system will provide a huge thrust to the industry, he added.