Hiring in Indian games, 2026: talent, pay and process

Summary

This paper uses Playdawn's own data to show what this means for hiring:

• 285 responses to our India Gaming Industry Salary and Benefits Survey

• anonymised notes from about 250 candidate profiling calls between February and October 2026, about 170 of them for games roles

• stage data from our applicant tracking system, and anonymised client feedback

We add peer-reviewed research on hiring where it helps. Playdawn also recruits for interactive tech and robotics. Those numbers are too small to report here, and our robotics primer covers that field.

Main findings:

1. Pay doubles from mid to senior. Median CTC goes from ₹6 LPA to ₹12 LPA. Engineers and art directors earn the most.

2. Company size moves benefits more than pay. Health insurance reaches 71% of people at large studios and 27% at startups, even though mid-size and large studios pay the same median.

3. Candidates move mainly for growth and stability. Only about 12 of about 165 named pay as their main reason.

4. More experienced talent is available. A quarter of the games candidates we called were not working at the time.

5. Speed is the thing studios control most. In one snapshot of our pipeline, nearly half of the stalled candidates were waiting on CV feedback.

6. AI is ordinary at work in India. About 110 of the 170 or so candidates told us how they use it, while the global GDC 2026 survey is far more negative.

1. The market in 2026

The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, passed on 21 August 2025, banned real-money games and their advertising. An industry report by WinZO and IEIC put real-money gaming at about 86% of Indian online gaming revenue in 2024. Before the vote, three industry bodies warned that more than 2 lakh jobs and over 400 companies were at risk. FICCI-EY reports that online gaming revenue fell 26% in 2025 while video games grew 14%.

Grant Thornton expects AVGC to create about 2 million jobs in India over the next 8 to 10 years. Maharashtra and Karnataka both have AVGC-XR policies.

Globally, the GDC 2026 survey (2,300+ respondents) was reported to show 28% of professionals laid off in the last two years. ManpowerGroup's 2026 Talent Shortage survey found that 82% of Indian employers, across all sectors, struggle to find skilled talent.

So the Indian market in 2026 has two sides: more people looking, and still too few with the exact skills studios need.

2. Who is looking, and why

• UA, performance marketing, ASO: Candidates: 45; Median experience: 3.5 years; Median current pay: ₹7.0 LPA; Median ask: ₹10.0 LPA

• Game design: Candidates: 44; Median experience: 4.5 years; Median current pay: ₹8.0 LPA; Median ask: ₹11.0 LPA

• Art: Candidates: 30; Median experience: 8 years; Median current pay: ₹12.0 LPA; Median ask: ₹15.0 LPA

• Motion and video: Candidates: 20; Median experience: 5.5 years; Median current pay: ₹8.1 LPA; Median ask: ₹12.0 LPA

• Production: Candidates: 10; Median experience: 4.5 years; Median current pay: ₹10.1 LPA; Median ask: ₹15.7 LPA

Where candidates worked at the time of the call:

• 49 outside games (ad agencies, product companies, media)

• 31 not employed

• 27 freelancing

• 17 at mid-size studios, 15 at outsourcing studios, 14 at startup studios, 4 at large studios

• 6 in their own venture

Reasons for moving, grouped and rounded:

• Growth and learning: About how many: 65

• Stability (closures, funding gaps, layoffs, late salaries): About how many: 25

• Full time after contract or freelance: About how many: 25

• Work-life balance, location: About how many: 20

• Pay: About how many: 12

A studio that can show a clear path and stable funding can win candidates without topping the pay range.

Research points the same way. A University of Porto study of 193 game developers (Mendes and Queirós, 2022) found that personal development explained about half of the variation in disengagement, and time demands about 27% of the variation in exhaustion.

3. Pay

From the survey:

• Entry: Median (₹ LPA): 4.0

• Mid: Median (₹ LPA): 6.0

• Senior: Median (₹ LPA): 12.0

• Lead or manager: Median (₹ LPA): 16.5

• Director or head: Median (₹ LPA): 24.5

• Game designer: Median (₹ LPA): 6.0

• QA: Median (₹ LPA): 6.0

• Artist: Median (₹ LPA): 6.5

• Animator: Median (₹ LPA): 9.5

• Producer: Median (₹ LPA): 10.0

• Product manager: Median (₹ LPA): 12.0

• Engineer: Median (₹ LPA): 15.0

• Art or creative director: Median (₹ LPA): 24.0

Product companies paid a median of ₹10 LPA against ₹7 LPA at services companies.

On calls, the median expected hike was 34%, with the middle half between 21% and 50%. People with 2 to 4 years of experience asked for the most (42%), and after 7 years asks fell to about 24%.

4. Benefits

• Health insurance: Startup: 27%; Mid-size: 48%; Large: 71%

• Performance bonus: Startup: 39%; Mid-size: 49%; Large: 61%

• Learning budget: Startup: 15%; Mid-size: 26%; Large: 35%

• ESOPs: Startup: 10%; Mid-size: 14%; Large: 18%

Mid-level people get the least: 36% have health insurance and 4% hold ESOPs. Among people with insurance, 38% have cover below ₹5 lakh.

5. Process: where hires are won and lost

Speed. In an early November 2026 snapshot of our pipeline, 36 candidates had not moved for at least five working days. 47% were waiting at client CV review, and some of those CVs had waited 20 to 25 working days. Interview stages also stalled for 5 to 15 working days. A Mint and Shine Talent Insights study, as cited in The Hans India, found 22% of Indian companies called offer drop-outs their top hiring challenge.

Interview design. Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2022) found structured interviews to be the strongest single predictor of job performance (about 0.42), ahead of job knowledge tests (0.40), work samples (0.33) and cognitive tests (0.31). Unstructured interviews scored about 0.19. Our client feedback fits this: clients held senior candidates to a clear test standard, and also judged senior creative candidates on communication and leadership in the first call.

Clarity of brief. Searches slowed when must-haves were not written down or the budget range moved midway. One cloud gaming role needed direct cloud gaming experience, and nearby experience in GPU servers or streaming helped but was not enough. Screening got faster once that was clear.

Information gaps. An updated CV or portfolio was one of the most common next steps after our calls, along with pay alignment, relocation and notice.

6. AI at work

GDC's 2026 survey found 52% of respondents saw generative AI as harmful to the industry, up from 18% two years earlier, and 36% used it at work.

On our calls in India, about 110 of the 170 or so candidates told us how they use AI. The most common uses were concepts, references, image and video, followed by research, writing and analysis, then coding and prototypes, then ad copy and creative testing. Many set their own limits, such as AI for ideas and not final assets.

Some candidates raised privacy concerns about AI-based interviews. Studios using them should be ready to explain how data and video are handled.

7. Recommendations

For studios:

1. Write must-haves and the budget range before sourcing starts.

2. Give CV feedback within 3 working days.

3. Use a structured first interview with a scoring guide.

4. Keep assignments short and matched to the job.

5. Make the offer within a week of the final round.

6. Buy group health insurance, ideally with parents. It is the clearest gap at startups.

7. Talk about growth, ownership and stability in your hiring.

8. Plan onboarding with check-ins at 30, 60 and 90 days and a named buddy.

For candidates:

1. Keep your CV and portfolio ready before you talk to recruiters.

2. Benchmark your ask: the median on our calls is 34%.

3. Compare offers on benefits as well as CTC.

4. Be specific about how you use AI.

5. If you are moving from real-money gaming, lead with the numbers you moved.

Method and limits

Survey: 285 self-reported responses, consented anonymised use, mostly November 2025 to April 2026, with salaries selected in ₹1 lakh steps. Calls: about 250 anonymised profiling calls (about 170 games), February to October 2026, coded for role, pay, notice and themes. Both samples lean towards Bangalore and towards the roles Playdawn recruits for. Medians are reported and small groups are flagged.

Sources

• FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment Report 2026, via AnimationXpress

• Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, and the industry bodies' warning, via Business Today

• WinZO and IEIC report on online gaming, via Outlook Business

• Grant Thornton Bharat on AVGC jobs

• GDC State of the Game Industry 2026

• ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage Survey 2026, India findings

• Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M., and Lievens, F. (2022). Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(11), 2040 to 2068

• Mendes, J., and Queirós, C. (2022). It's Crunch Time: Burnout, Job Demands and Job Resources in Game Developers. University of Porto

• Mint and Shine Talent Insights, via The Hans India, September 2025

• Bauer, T. N. Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success. SHRM Foundation

Playdawn HR Consulting Private Limited | team@playdawn.com | playdawn.com