The data in this report shows that real iGaming user experiences in India depend a considerable amount on the device. Bugs, performance glitches and/or heating issues are deal breakers and quite variable from phone to phone.
So how can providers in emerging markets know how their games are working on a variety of local devices?
TESTA assessed real iGaming user experiences in India this past March. Through crowdsourced testing on real devices, TESTA analyzed game load speeds, in-game lag, audio-video synchronicity, and device heating—critical factors for player satisfaction and retention.
The testing shows how Pragmatic Play, PlaynGo, and Hacksaw Gaming performed on 5 of India’s most popular smartphone brands. Among these, PlaynGo distinguished itself with its quick load speeds, setting the performance benchmark for the phones in this test. Yet, no single provider completely dominated across all of TESTA’s UX tests, underscoring the performance variation across devices and the complexity of optimizing in this sector.
With half of the tested devices falling short of the optimal user experience, there is a significant opportunity for providers in India to differentiate themselves by widening their device compatibility and performance.
Device selection
TESTA chose 5 top smartphone brands from current market share data in India (Statista, March 2024). Two models from each brand were tested.
Testing method
Testers played 50 rounds on each provider’s top slots, Sweet Bonanza, Rich Wilde and the Tomb of Madness, and Wanted Dead or a Wild.
They noted the game load speed (game size divided by load time) which, because of variables like file size and server response, was deemed a more comparable metric to measure a provider’s device compatibility.
User experience was assessed post-download, focusing on 4 UX measurements: in-game lag, audio-visual synchronicity, device heating and other issues.
- Lag: This refers to the delay between a player’s action and the game’s reaction. It’s crucial to reduce lag for a responsive game, which can be caused by network latency or processing issues.
- A/V Sync: This is the coordination between audio and visual elements. Proper A/V sync enhances the game’s atmosphere and engagement.
- Device heating: Testers were asked when the device’s heating became noticeable during the 50 spins and to rate the heat intensity from 1 to 10.
- Other issues: Testers were asked to report any additional issues during the 50 spins.
All sessions were screen-recorded and verified by TESTA.
Executive summary
Only half of the devices tested offered frictionless UX—that is, the user experience that the provider intended. The data points to a strong connection between device capabilities and quality of the gaming experience.
PlaynGo stood out with the fastest load speeds, signaling efficient gameplay delivery and network utilization. Although Pragmatic Play and Hacksaw Gaming displayed slower load speeds, they maintained decent performance, suggesting that their offerings are viable and engaging to users.
Device-specific challenges included:
- The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro’s consistent A/V sync issues underscored the need for testing and tailored optimization strategies for sound.
- Heating issues across Oppo phones and the Samsung Galaxy A04e also highlighted a critical area for improvement.
iGaming providers can use this information to identify device-specific issues and implement targeted enhancements, thereby improving user experience.
PlaynGo
Findings showed that while no single provider dominated, PlaynGo had the fastest load speed across all 10 devices—more than twice as fast as Pragmatic and three times as fast as Hacksaw. PlaynGo had issues for lag, A/V sync and heating, but they appeared to be device-related since all providers experienced problems with the same phone. PlaynGo had no other issues to report from exploratory testing.
Hacksaw Gaming
Hacksaw has the slowest load speed among the three, suggesting potential areas for improvement in game data handling. For lag and A/V sync, Hacksaw suffered from the limitations of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro—as did all three providers. Aside from this, Hacksaw’s offering also experienced thermal issues on the Oppo phones and the Galaxy A04e—again, a common issue for all three providers. For the exploratory testing, there was nothing unusual to report for the Hacksaw game.
Pragmatic Play
Pragmatic Play showed the second best average load speed across all 10 devices but it also stood out with A/V sync issues on the RealMe X, while the other two providers did not. For lag and device heating, Pragmatic had the same device-related limitations that affected all three providers’ UX.
Takeaways
PlaynGo’s rapid load speed set a benchmark (5.80 mb/s download speed), showing the importance of not just file size, but also how efficiently a game utilizes available bandwidth.
Once the game has loaded, testers reported frictionless UX on half the phones. However, five of the devices showed problems—these are the devices where testing and optimization could gain competitive advantage in the Indian market:
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 7: Lag and A/V sync issues occurred for all providers.
- RealMe X: A/V sync occurred for Pragmatic Play.
- Oppo A11: All providers’ games experienced device heating.
- Oppo A77: All providers’ games experienced device heating.
- Samsung Galaxy A04e: All providers’ games experienced device heating.
The consistent issues with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro highlight the device’s limitations and the necessity for providers to tailor their games to a wide array of hardware capabilities. The heating issues experienced with Oppo phones and the Samsung Galaxy A04e across all game providers point to the need for more efficient thermal management in these devices, especially when running resource-intensive applications such as online games.
The device-specific issues observed for all providers on lag, A/V sync and heating underscore the importance of extensive testing across a variety of hardware to ensure smooth gameplay.
Detailed results and insights by metric
These are the essential data and insights from each metric, highlighting differences in performance across the 5 phone brands and 3 providers. Providers can reference these benchmarks for UX in India.
Load speeds
PlaynGo load speed was fastest at 5.80 mb/s followed by Pragmatic Play at 2.83 mb/s and Hacksaw Gaming at 1.76 mb/s.
The following table breaks down all the load speeds according to provider and phone model. Three phones are especially slow across all three providers:
- Samsung Galaxy A04e: This model consistently shows lower speeds with all three game providers, making it one of the slowest in the set.
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro: The speeds on this device are also among the lowest across all providers, with particularly low speed for Hacksaw Gaming.
- Vivo Y30: Exhibits lower speeds for PlaynGo and Pragmatic, and the lowest speed for Hacksaw Gaming among the Vivo models.
These three models show a trend of lower performance in game load speeds, which could indicate less efficient data processing or less optimal hardware capabilities for handling these particular game providers’ content.
Out of the three providers, Hacksaw Gaming had the slowest download speeds for all devices, even on the top Samsung model. This leads to long download times—a bad user experience before game play even begins.
Lag
Notably, all games experienced lag on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro especially at the beginning of the games, indicating potential device-specific compatibility or performance issues.
Also, Pragmatic Play’s Sweet Bonanza lagged occasionally when the tester clicked spin, a red flag for slots players as it interrupts game play and trust.
Aside from this outlier, games from all providers ran without lag on other tested devices.
A/V synchronicity
Issues with audio-visual synchronicity were observed with Pragmatic Play games on RealMe X and Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro; and with PlaynGo and Hacksaw games on Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro. These findings point to variances in how different devices handle game audio and visuals, affecting overall game immersion for some user experiences.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro had bad audio sync throughout the entire game play experience, with gaps of total silence and scratchy music and sound effects.
This issue was consistent across all brands, not just Pragmatic Play.
Heating
Significant heating was a common issue across all three games on both Oppo devices and the Samsung Galaxy A04e, raising concerns about these devices’ thermal management capabilities during prolonged gaming sessions. The RealMe X also heated up but only to a rating of 4 out of 10, while the Oppo phones and Samsung A04e got a 10 out 10 for the heat rating.
Conclusion
This report highlights the variability of iGaming performance across devices in India. Specifically, the role of robust load speeds and the make or break impact of in-game lag, synchronicity and heating on user experience. In doing so, the report shows the critical influence of device-specific considerations for providers in emerging markets for shaping user engagement.
With real people testing on real devices, iGaming providers can find the device-level optimizations that cater to the varying hardware used by their audience. This approach has the potential to not only improve user satisfaction, but also enhance market penetration and user retention in competitive markets like India.
Through targeted improvements and strategic planning based on these insights, iGaming providers can better align their offerings with the expectations and needs of a diverse and growing user base—and gain ground in India’s fast-growing iGaming market.
About the author
Ian McKinnon
TESTA Head of Marketing