What moves on this corridor.
India exports → EU
USD 1.2B gaming services annually — game art and animation outsourcing (Dhruva Interactive — acquired by Rockstar India; Technicolor Games India; Lakshya Digital — for EU game studios including Ubisoft, EA, WB Games); game development outsourcing (full game development, co-development, porting — for EU indie publishers and mid-tier studios); esports talent management and event production; Indian mobile game publishing (Nazara Games — international publishing division — EU-market mobile games); game localisation services (Indian studios providing QA localisation testing for EU game market — 24 EU official languages)
Top India states: Karnataka (Bangalore — Ubisoft India, EA India, Dhruva Interactive, Lakshya Digital; India's game dev capital), Maharashtra (Pune — Ubisoft Pune, nCore Games, Bakarmax; Mumbai — SuperGaming, WN Infotech), Tamil Nadu (Chennai — Zynga India, Amazon Games India; mobile gaming), Telangana (Hyderabad — Microsoft Gaming India, Xbox Game Studios India; large game dev cluster), Delhi NCR (esports events, game publisher India HQs, NODWIN Gaming — largest India esports operator)
EU exports → India
EUR 800M annually — EU game publisher India operations (EA India — EA Sports FC mobile, Apex Legends Mobile India; Ubisoft India — development centre Pune; Paradox Interactive India sales; Nintendo India distribution); EU gaming hardware (PS5/Xbox controllers, gaming peripherals — Razer, Corsair, HyperX — India gaming PC/console market); EU esports event production (ESL/FACEIT — ESL India; Blast Pro Series India events); Steam (Valve) India game distribution (EUR store pricing for Indian users)
Top EU buyers: Germany (Astragon, Ravenscourt, THQ Nordic — EU game publishers with India art outsourcing; Gamescom Cologne — world's largest gaming expo), France (Ubisoft — 2 India development centres; Nacon; Focus Entertainment — France-based publishers with India co-development), Sweden (Paradox Interactive; DICE/EA Sweden — India co-development; King — Candy Crush — India mobile gaming), Poland (CD Projekt — Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher publisher — India art outsourcing pipeline), Netherlands (Guerrilla Games — Horizon series — India art support; Nixxes Software — Sony India co-development)
Growth rate
+28% CAGR India gaming revenue (2019–2024) · India game dev outsourcing +35% CAGR · India esports audience +40% CAGR · India mobile gaming +32% CAGR · Indian UGC (user-generated content) creators on Roblox/Minecraft EU market +55% CAGR
FTA duty impact
Gaming services are 100% digital — Mode 1 (cross-border digital delivery, 0%, WTO Moratorium protection). Physical gaming goods (consoles, peripherals — HS 9504): 0–2.7% → 0% (Day 1 FTA). Game software on media (HS 8523): 0%. The FTA digital trade chapter confirms zero-barrier digital game delivery (India game studios → EU platforms). IP protection: FTA IP chapter protects Indian game IP (character design, game narratives, game mechanics) under EU copyright. Cultural Heritage: Indian mythological game IP (Raji — Nodding Heads Games, based on Rajput culture; Indus Battle Royale — SuperGaming) benefits from FTA GI-adjacent protection for cultural heritage-based IP.