From 0 to 1 Million+ users: This Bangalore Based Startup is on its Way to Create New Wave in Online Gaming Ecosystem

Gameskraft is one of the fastest growing online gaming company delivering web and mobile games with intuitive design and seamless user experience. It was founded by Mr. Prithvi Singh & launched in June, 2017. We are publishing an interview of Prithvi Singh – Founder & CTO of Gameskraft.

Q.: Please tell us about the founders
Ans: I am the only founder of Gameskraft. I am an Engineering graduate from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology and I began my professional journey in 2005. Prior to launching Gameskraft, I was associated with several companies like Grofers, Ignite Technologies, and Arcot Technologies. For over a decade, I worked across diverse domains including Large-scale and Enterprise applications. However, I knew my true calling was something else. Since gaming has always been my passion, I decided to start my entrepreneurial journey with Gameskraft.

Q.: Please tell us about the investors (if any)
Ans: At present most of the funding is from friends and family.

Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve? Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Ans: When I was in college, Indian gamers were served by foreign game developers. Most of the games were developed keeping in mind the international customers. In fact, there was hardly any domestic gaming company at that time. With Gameskraft, I wanted to bring the Indian context to the online gaming space. The games we develop are mainly targeted at Indian users.

Q.: Tell us about the Product / Solution. Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process.
Ans: We currently have two products – Rummyculture and Gamezy. Both games are user-centric and based on reward system. The Gameskraft team spent a year on researching the market trends, the demand, and the gaps that exist in the casual gaming industry. We made sure our products will cater to the specific needs of Indian customers.

Q.: What is your USP?
Ans: The USP of Gameskraft lies in its transparency and user-centricity. The games we offer are not only highly engaging, but also completely safe and secure. Gameskraft is also the first gaming company to offer instant rewards to the customers.

Unlike most players in the market, we carried out an extensive research before launching our first game Rummyculture. We weighed in multiple factors such as the total number of smartphone users, smartphone connectivity in different parts of India, the current demand, among others.

Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learnings that you have? Who in your mind is your ideal customer? Do you have at least one of them signed up?
Ans: When we first entered the market, we assumed that an online game can become popular if it has a good interface. However, after a couple of months we realized that there are many factors to be considered. So we did more research and made the some changes to Rummyculture’s interface to make it relatively simpler. From college students to young professionals, Gameskraft caters to everyone who loves to play online games.

Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur and what did you learn from it??
Ans: In the initial days, we faced several challenges. The first multi-player tournament that we hosted on Rummyculture, for example, failed due to technical errors. The tournament was supposed to run for four rounds, but even the first round was not completed. This was a major setback for Gameskraft. However, we learned from the mistakes to avoid similar kind of mishaps in the future. The technical team, in particular, put in a lot of hard work.

Q.: How are you pricing the Product?
Ans: The product is free. In terms of revenue, Gameskraft follows a commission-based model.

Q.: Is there any interesting success story? If yes, please write about it. ?
Ans: One of the most appealing part of Rummyculture is its instant withdrawal feature. Unlike other reward-based cash games, our users are credited with the money on the same day. However, initially this process was neither automated nor we had any banking solutions. So every day after 3 pm, I used take a printout of all the withdrawal requests and go to the bank with a checkbook. I deposited the check and gave the Bank Manager a list of account numbers and the respective amounts that had to be deposited. Thankfully, we now have banking partners and the process is fully automated.

Q.: What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product leading to something bigger? If so, how?
Ans: As suggested by the name, Gameskraft has a lot to offer to gamers. Within a short span of time, we have registered remarkable growth numbers. We started with Rummyculture which has evolved as India’s fastest growing cash rummy platform, crossing 1 million users already. We also plan to launch Gamezy in the 2^nd part of March. And, we will continue our journey in the years ahead, offering a seamless gaming experience to Indian customers.

Q.: What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup.
Ans: Information regarding the projected market growth, smartphone penetration and increased internet penetration is available to all. However, Gameskraft’s uniqueness lies in the market research we do. From collecting user data to implementing modern technology, we try to cover all the areas before building a game.

Q.: List all the names of the core Team Members, along with their Designated Roles.
Ans: Punya, Akhilesh, Abhishek and Alankar have been with Gameskraft since the beginning. While they don’t have any particular roles assigned to them, they make sure the business is up and running. Despite coming from different backgrounds, they always manage to stick together and find solutions for problems. For me, they are no less than fighters. They may not have any direct experience in game developing, but they do have in-depth knowledge about the B2C industry.

Q.: Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: Well, Gameskraft began its journey quite recently. So we are currently busy developing new games to offer a better gaming experience to our customers. As I mentioned earlier, we make sure to do a lot of market research before designing a new offering. We take regular feedbacks from professional as well as amateur gamers to find out what kind of features they look for. We also value feedbacks from those who have never tried their hands in online gaming but would like to play in future.

Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months?
Ans: In the next six months, we aim to establish Gameskraft as a prominent player in the online gaming space. However, our immediate goal is to focus on Gamezy, our latest offering. With the launch of Gamezy, the fantasy cricket game based on reward system, we are looking forward to receiving positive responses from fantasy cricket enthusiasts of the country.

Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: The main piece of advice I’d like to offer fellow entrepreneurs is, make sure you are passionate about what you do. Give your 100 per cent and things will work out eventually. There will be difficult days, of course, but don’t get disheartened. Don’t hesitate to take help from friends and family as having a strong support system is equally important. If you are venturing into the B2C market, your product should cater to the needs of customers. 

Q.: Any other information you would like to share?
Ans: I would like to thank our fans for their constant support. Gameskraft has many exciting things in store for them in the next few months. 

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Thanks Prithvi. Best wishes!