While many investors and developers believe India is big on mobile (and they’re not wrong), it’s on console and PC that Indians actually spend money. It’s a part of the business that’s woefully under-served due to being a microcosm of the larger Android-dominated ecosystem.
If these words sound familiar it's because they're from the about section of this newsletter. And they ring true, especially for this piece. In previous issues I've explored the console curiosities, subscription shenanigans, and development debacles. This time, the topic at hand is even more under-served: gaming peripherals.
Granted, I've touched upon this on an earlier newsletter, albeit from a console perspective, this issue deals with PC gaming peripherals.
With the rapid and almost irreversible decline of Xbox's India fortunes and publishers embracing (preservation-unfriendly) digital services, more and more retailers in the country have gravitated towards selling gaming keyboards, mice, and headsets. Usually, this has been a space dominated by the likes of Logitech and HyperX, known brands with premium price tags.
Of late however, there have been an influx of other brands, with more value-oriented offerings. These include Ant Esports, Red Dragon, Red Gear, and Cosmic Byte. While prices differ on a product by product basis, you're usually paying half of what you would for any peripheral from these brands versus any of the established options. Margins are better too, usually around 40 percent across the board (for comparison's sake, video games are roughly 20 percent and consoles have an eight to 10 percent margin). Sales have been brisk.
"We move 60 to 70 Red Dragon keyboards a month," says one Delhi-based retailer. "While we stock the premium foreign brands, customers are looking for something affordable. More often than not, they're first-time PC or laptop gamers that want something that simply works."
And while Red Dragon in itself is a Chinese brand, local homegrown offerings have been making a dent in the market such as Cosmic Byte.
Based in Pune, it's quietly become one of the more dependable choices for PC gamers. More recently, it made waves for partnering with Valorant esports team Velocity Gaming and hosting its own national BGMI tournament. From all accounts, Cosmic Byte is seen by many stores as the biggest local gaming brand in the space right now.
"For us, Cosmic Byte is our best-seller in terms of headsets," says a Mumbai store owner. "More often than not you're paying double for the same thing from a Logitech or Razer and the moment customers are aware of that — along with the fact that everything is made in China — they end up buying an Indian brand."
Though the consumer thought process may be reductive, it seems to be working. Naturally, I reached out to Cosmic Byte to know more. I ended up talking to Ronak Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner at Cosmic Byte to know more. Some responses have been edited slightly for clarity and length.
What was the thought process and reason behind starting Cosmic Byte?
We initially started as a distribution business for gaming consoles, accessories, games in 2013. Having worked closely with gamers and retailers in India we realised the huge gap in the market for gaming accessories. The only few brands in India were international companies selling expensive products not affordable by majority of gamers. In 2017 we entered with our brand Cosmic Byte providing affordable gaming accessories.
What's Cosmic Byte's best-selling product?
Gaming headsets contribute highest to our sales. However, with the introduction of some great products in keyboard, mouse and gamepads we are experiencing high demands across the categories.
Does Cosmic Byte do any research and development in-house for its products? How do you gain consumer insight?
We do a lot of research on the products that can add value to the gamers in India. We have a great team of gamers who help us understand the needs to the market and introduce products that differentiate us from the competition. We are also gradually moving towards designing and development of our models in-house instead of outsourcing it.
Considering that this is the PC space where buyers do have larger budgets than say console or mobile gamers, what's the reason behind the relatively lower pricing?
Gaming products do not need to be as expensive as sold by international brand in India. The products are priced equivalent or even expensive than the pricing in US, Europe by these brands. Cosmic Byte aims to overcome this inequality and provide the same product experience at much lower cost to the gamers. Gaming in India is growing exponentially, and affordability is going to be the driving factor.
Who is the Indian gamer according to you?
Cosmic Byte target audience has an age group of 15-35 years. Almost 90 percent of the customers fall under this category. We have customers who have bought entire range of products from Cosmic Byte i.e. headsets, keyboards, mice, gamepads, mousepads. The reason for this is affordable pricing and great performance. They find it value for money. With the introduction of some premium quality products at not so premium pricing, every gamer is willing to give Cosmic Byte products a try.
Where do most of Cosmic Byte's sales happen?
Around 80 percent of sales happen online through our website, Amazon, Flipkart, and network websites.
Cosmic Byte recently sponsored esports team Velocity. What's the reason behind the move and how do you justify ROI for something like this?
More than business my objective of establishing Cosmic Byte was to support the gaming community in India. We have reached a stage where we see gaming teams being formed in every corner of the country. I want our gamers to reach the international stage and win against the best teams out there. Cosmic Byte partnered with Velocity Gaming which is among the top Valorant teams of India. We are the first Indian brand to have esports players featured on the product packaging. We want every user of Cosmic Byte products to know how well our players are performing and will continue to give them visibility in the best way we can. Its great for Cosmic Byte as well as the team and players.
On that note, what was the response to Cosmic Byte's God Mode tournament? Are there plans for more such events?
We had a great response the GOD Mode tournament last year and we have sponsored multiple tournaments this year as well. We will surely come back with the second season of the tournament soon.
Finally, the recently launched Equinox Kronos Wireless and Equinox Neutrino headsets appear to be catering to not just PC but console gamers too, can we expect more console-focussed offerings in the future?
Yes, console gamers are gaining traction. It’s great for casual gaming and relaxing away from work. A lot of console gamers are above 25 and we plan to keep bringing great products that satisfy their requirements of best gaming experience, quality and affordability.
Gupta's responses suggest that the PC gaming peripheral business in India has more depth than some give it credit for. And while it's interesting to see online sales be the norm, some stores have been more selective. Outside national sentiment, there's little to tell one affordable choice from the other they tell me.
"We keep all the marquee peripheral brands like Razer and Logitech," says one Bengaluru-based retailer. "But we only keep one of the cheaper brands at a time because customers get confused as they're all so similar."
Perhaps with the stated move to in-house research and development we could see more differentiated products from Cosmic Byte in the future. With GPU prices normalising thanks to the ongoing crypto winter, I'd suspect we'd see a return to strong PC game sales too. For now though, Cosmic Byte and its ilk have already set the stage for the 37 percent of Indian mobile gamers looking to move to a PC.