Ready to be a ghostbuster? Here's why Indian game developers believe horror games are the future

Imagine the oppressive humidity of a remote island in Kerala The sun has dipped below the palmfringed horizon leaving only the rhythmic lap of water against the shore You are alone trapped in a landscape that feels as much like a memory as it does a prison This is the world of Thekku Island a recent release that has tapped into a primal fear proving that the world of video games is looking to spook you outBut why do we love horror Shubham Rajanwar founder and CEO of Mad Mantra Games who has made the horror exorcism game Kamla says ldquoGames are a medium for people to enjoy what they already like If you already enjoy horror movies you are more likely to enjoy horror games and play themrdquoThe Rs 50 crore nightmareFor those who donrsquot spend time clutching a controller the scale of this industry might be the biggest jumpscare of all The global immersive horror market is projected to hit over Rs 50 crore 55 billion this yearSpookABoo is inspired by Ghostbusters and Luigirsquos Mansion Itrsquos a ghosthunting couch coop game designed for families to play togetherOn Steam the worldrsquos premier PC gaming platform horror is an unstoppable force In 2025 alone 3018 horror titles were released mdash a leap from the 155 titles released just a decade ago ldquoIf you check the Steam stats horror has been one of the highest selling genres throughoutrdquo says Megha Gupta founder and director of Wala Interactive ldquoIt hasnrsquot shifted from the top five in a lot of yearsrdquoFor an Indian indie studio horror is the ultimate cheat code Unlike massive action epics that require Hollywoodsized budgets horror thrives with dimmer lighting and shadows ldquoTechnically horror games are less ambitious projects They can be a success on a small budget if you get the design sound and artwork right The experience design is easy you just have to make the right decisions on a tight budgetrdquo says RajanwarShubham R and Dr Parthasarathy PKProf Dr Parthasarathy PK Dean at Chitkara Centre for Game Design amp Immersive Technologies explains the mechanical logic ldquoThe 3D textures will be more visible in the daylight If I am an indie developer and I donrsquot have the budget horror works because the aura the lighting will be less and you donrsquot have to create fullflip textures All you need is the story the narrative content If the narrative is good the game will also be successfulrdquo he saysScream economyYouTubers with their mouths agape in thumbnails reacting to a digital monster and scared in their seats are a sight everyone loves This is the scream economy And when an influencer screams their audience buysTwitch a livestreaming platform focused on video games and esports content generated over 432 million viewer hours for horror content in the last year Pranoy Chatterjee founder and CEO of Unquittable Studios the developer behind the upcoming highoctane title Bloodfire notes that horror has become a streamerfirst genreChatterjee says ldquoStreamers play it all the time People find it funny and that actually provides a good boost in sales Streamers mostly play horror games because of jump scaresrdquoThis visceral thrill is why such games are exploding They are games that are inherently more marketable for developersCulture is currency tooIn Bloodfire Chatterjee has designed an arena shooter game Still he has woven in cultural elements like the ancient Brahmi script which you will identify if you are Indian ldquoThe main inspiration was from Dantersquos Inferno but I did want to add an Indian touch So you see Brahmi and some of the enemy characters are inspired by Indian rakshas But I didnrsquot want to make it overtly Indian so that it could reach a global audiencerdquo he saysKamla has carved out a solid space with an estimated 10000 owners and a 90 per cent positive rating while Thekku Island the Keralabased title released earlier this year is sitting at an 87 per cent lsquovery positive rating on SteamSpookABoo which is yet to be released takes the horror comedy route Inspired by Ghostbusters and Luigirsquos Mansion itrsquos a ghosthunting couch coop game designed for families to play togetherldquoWe wanted a couchpop game first and then we added the themerdquo Gupta explains ldquoI wanted to spread laughter Kids can play with their parents and couples can play together The youngest whorsquos played our game is a fouryearold so we decided to remove the jump scares and bring in more laughterrdquoWhile PC gaming gets the prestige the real battle for Indian attention is won on the sixinch screen ldquoWhat the mobile audience wants is very different from the PC or console audienceIndia is a country of new gamers and rarely will people buy games to own These new gamers are also not hardcore gamers so mobile games fare better in Indiardquo says RajanwarBut as the gaming sector grows the pressure to innovate intensifies Chatterjee warns against the copypaste culture ldquoThe horror genre is still being done to death in India Like another new day another new horror We are in a learning bubble and I feel that bubble is going to burst very soon We need experienced developers to get on the global levelrdquoLearning bubblegtgt thinspGlobal giants like Krafton and Sony are now hunting for Indian talentgtgt thinspThe government has taken initiatives to promote Animation Visual Effects Gaming and Comics AVGC with development for specialised coursesThe price of fright55 bnProjected global value of the immersive horror market432 mnHours of horror content watched on Twitch in a single year10000Estimated users of Kamla currently Indiarsquos most successful indie horror game60Viewership boost megacreators see when playing horror titles