India's Government Owned and Developed Mobile App Store Created as an Alternative to Google Play and Apple App Store
Breakthrough Gaming App Q GamesMela Expands Distribution Into Tier 2 & 3 and Rural India Via mSeva
MUMBAI, India and TORONTO, Jan. 18, 2024 /CNW/ - QYOU Media Inc., (TSXV: QYOU) (OTCQB: QYOUF) a company operating in India and the United States producing and distributing content created by social media stars and digital content creators, has announced that its breakthrough gaming app, Q Games Mela, will soon be launching on the mSeva mobile app store platform. The mSeva (Mobile Seva) app platform (https://apps.mgov.gov.in/) is an indigenous development by the India government as an initiative to allow for seamless and free downloads to mobile devices and as an alternative for mobile developers to distribute their content outside of the Google Play and Apple App storefronts. Launch is currently targeted for January 26th, the Republic Day holiday in India.
mSeva was developed as part of what is known as "Atmanirbhar Bharat", an effort by the government of India to develop a self reliant set of tools across many segments including technology and infrastructure. Unlike the Google and Apple app stores, mSeva does not charge fees to app developers who utilize the platform. The store became an instant hit when it was released in 2023 delivering over 90 million downloads shortly after launch.
Q GamesMela has delivered strong early results after being launched in Q4 2023. The app reached its first target milestone of one million downloads in approximately six weeks. There are currently over ten million individual games being played on the app monthly with users spending an average of one hour and thirty five minutes playing games each week. In addition, the ad inventory has been boosted by this gameplay and now consistently is delivering more than one million daily ad impressions. All of these achievements and early milestones have been accomplished faster than originally projected by the Q GamesMela team which saw the app grow from 500,000 to one million downloads in only twelve days.
The Indian mobile gaming ecosystem continues to experience a dramatic upsurge of growth with the country poised to surpass 1 billion internet users by 2025, accompanied by an estimated 820 million smartphone users within the next two years. A recent report by the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) underscores this trend, highlighting the substantial increase in the number of Indian gamers, largely attributed to the burgeoning smartphone-based internet user base.* Currently India is expected to become the fastest growing major gaming market in Asia. Estimates are for the number of players in the country to grow to 641.2 million by 2027 with rising incomes, increased bandwidth and smartphones being the main drivers of growth.**
Curt Marvis, CEO and Co-Founder, QYOU Media, commented "We continue to push forward and hit new milestones in our efforts to make Q GamesMela one of the biggest hit gaming apps in India in 2024. mSeva is a critically important distribution partner, as they are not only government operated and sponsored, but also share a demographic target in Tier 2, Tier 3 and rural India where we believe a very substantial part of our growth will occur. In addition to the economic benefits of using this distribution platform, it is gratifying to work alongside the governmental efforts to make India one of the strongest mobile first markets in the world".
*https://aigf.in/
**https://hc.games/indias-gaming-market-in-2023/
One of the fastest growing creator-media companies, QYOU Media operates in India and the United States producing, distributing and monetizing content created by social media influencers and digital content stars. In India, under our flagship brand, The Q and on connected TV, via channels Q Kahaniyan, Q GameX, Q Comedistaan, Sadhguru TV and Bollywood Hungama we curate, produce and distribute premium content across television networks, VOD and OTT platforms, mobile phones, smart TV's and app-based platforms. In addition, QYOU has numerous additional content destinations, apps and gaming platforms engaging over 125 million Indian households weekly. Our influencer marketing company, Chtrbox, has been a pioneer in India's creator economy, leveraging data to connect brands to the right social media influencers. Q GamesMela is a recently launched casual gaming business leveraging access to the large audience enjoyed by Q India products. In the United States, we power major film studios, game publishers and brands social media marketing efforts on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube via custom content creation, media and creators/influencers. Founded and created by industry veterans from Lionsgate, MTV, Disney and Sony, QYOU Media's millennial and Gen Z-focused content reaches more than one billion consumers around the world every month. Experience our work at www.qyoumedia.com
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SOURCE QYOU Media Inc.
Investor Relations Contact: Dave Gentry, RedChip Companies Inc., 1-800-RED-CHIP (733-2447), [email protected]; Source: QYOU Media Inc., Contact: Doug Barker, 213-564-0007
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