Exclusive Interview with Ankur Singh, CEO and Founder of Witzeal Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Ankur Singh describes the gaming technology of Witzeal Technologies Pvt. Ltd. in 2022

Gaming technology is transforming the sports industry with the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, and many more. It has created ample opportunities for online as well as offline gamers to earn their livelihood efficiently in this global tech era. The global gaming technology market size is expected to hit US$339.95 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 8.94%.

Here is an exclusive interview with Ankur Singh, CEO, and Founder of Witzeal Technologies Pvt., who has addressed the need to transform the sports industry through new-age gaming technology by offering a multi-gaming platform known as Big Cash with a large variety of games to play with real money.

1. Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that your company offers.

Witzeal is a new-age gaming technology company that has Big Cash, as its flagship product. Big Cash is a multi-gaming platform that has 16 skill-based real money games that are developed in-house. The platform has games majorly in three segments such as card, casual, and fantasy. The card games include poker, rummy, and call break. The casual games include cricket, car racing, fruit chop, soccer, egg toss, knife hit, 8-ball pool, bulb smash, and more. Fantasy gaming includes cricket, football, and kabaddi. Witzeal has also introduced tech-oriented features like live video calling, VIP benefits, friend/community to improve the gaming experience by allowing players to communicate with one another, creating a noteworthy experience. Moreover, players on the Big Cash platform can connect with opponents or any other players on the platform with whom they can create their own private table and arrange the private game at their suitable time. To sum it up, the specialization is to provide games engaging users with a personalized preference for all age groups with the utmost level of transparency and security.

2. With what mission and objectives, the company was set up? In short, tell us about your journey since the inception of the company?

With an aim to introduce futuristic games in the field of real money gaming in India, Witzeal was incepted in 2016. With five members, working towards the same goal, the company launched the very first games known as 'Bulb Smash' and 'Bulb Smash Cash' in 2017. Witzeal Technologies made its quantum leap with the launch of the Big Cash multi-gaming platform in 2017, coinciding with the growth of India's online gaming industry. By 2019, the user base had grown to almost 1.6 million, leading to the introduction of various other games on Big Cash. Further, with the introduction of online poker on the platform in 2020, the registered user base has grown to over 25 million. Alongside the technological innovations being implemented since the launch of Big Cash, today it has 27 million registered users.

3. What are the key challenges you are facing in the gaming industry? What are the current trends?

It is a great time to be level playing in this sector. The online gaming sector is booming at a lightning speed and is poised to grow further. But what growth without challenges? Since online gaming is at a sunrise stage in India, there have been multiple obstacles. One of the major challenges was when the Google Play Store imposed a ban on real money gaming applications. This ban led to multiple discussions on regulating the sector and creating a legal framework for online games rather than banning them. The team is thankful to the Government that they have in the finance budget identified to set up a task force on AVGC which has the potential to provide mass employment and realize the common goals of the industry and Government. The management hopes that the Government formulates a policy to ensure structured and sustained growth of the sector.

However, it is believed that the online gaming industry will continue to reflect the growing trend in years to come and at a rapid pace due to innovation backed by technology advancements and customized experiences. The industry can see more and more use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) adoption for faster game creation and freemium games are a few of the country's gaming industry's emerging trends.

4. How do you plan to revolutionize the Indian market and what are your plans to tap the market?

With the expected growth of the games industry, the team is aiming to double its user base in a year. To do so, it is working on improving the user experience, game varieties, contests, and other new features all backed by innovations that would be interesting for users that will help to achieve the goal. In order to expedite overall development and expansion, the company has already begun incorporating data and intelligence to provide an undeniably personalized experience, in addition to offering new games to the platform. Witzeal Technologies is using a concentrated approach to tap into new user bases in rural India because significant rural regions in India possess huge potential. Similarly, in the urban area, it is pursuing collaboration opportunities in addition to organic acquisition strategy.

The team is strategizing to invest in reaching out to potential users through branding and marketing exercises like performance marketing, referral bonuses, branding on OTT platforms, and as such user acquisition strategies.

5. How is technology shaping the gaming industry? How is it changing the role of CIOs and Leaders?

With technological advancements such as 3D graphics, VR, and AI, gaming features are constantly evolving. As developers introduce new innovations, players can discover more realistic, and fully immersive gaming experiences. Tech-oriented features such as 3D scanning, facial recognition, voice and gesture control, and others are expected to be in demand since they can significantly improve player engagement and increase their affinity to play and explore more on the platform.

Having said that, designing and providing such features need to be curated and regulated right with a dedicated team functioned by an experienced leader. Therefore, Witzeal Technologies is expanding the senior leadership team with the recent appointment of Mr. Naveen Goswami as Head of Innovation, Mr. Peush Bery as the Head of Product Development Strategy, and Mr. Yogvinder Singh as the Head of Technology. Further, there is a plan to rope in more leaders and build the team so as to create and deliver a remarkable gaming experience across the players.

6. Would you like to highlight a few use cases where analytics has benefitted the organization tremendously?

At Big Cash, the company has a diverse set of players for a range of games, and therefore, it is crucial to comprehend and deliver a unique gaming experience so that players would want to keep exploring various games at Big Cash. Analyzing user behaviour at various touchpoints is the key to providing a personalized gaming experience. The team has been witnessing a trend in paying and playing patterns of users in card, casual, and fantasy games. Basis the analysis, it has been able to strategize and deliver as per the user requirement.

The video calling feature poses trust amongst users that the players are real and not machines which not only increases brand image but also enables them to engage more deeply with users and their preferences.

Another feature that enables friends to play together on a private table would enable them to play together even at a distance and use features like video calling to remain physically connected. Moreover, the VIP option is a whole lot of benefits that open up to the frequent players which brings depth to the platform in terms of user engagement.