Most people still think gaming is entertainment, not an industry bigger than movies and music combined. This conversation is a rare look at building a gaming studio in India that reaches 200 million players, told by the founder actually doing it.

Roby John was one of India's first iPhone developers, and after his edtech startup TapToLearn collapsed, he spent two years in the dark before building SuperGaming into a studio played by over 200 million people. SuperGaming makes free-to-play mobile games like Indus Battle Royale and licenses its own engine to global giants, even running the official mobile Pac-Man for Bandai Namco.

Across this conversation with host Akshay Datt, Roby explains why gaming now commands a bigger wallet share than movies and music, why he launches in India where under 1% of players pay but monetizes in Brazil where 6 to 12% do, and why he is grateful for the app store tax most founders resent. With India's gaming market crossing 5 billion dollars and a new online gaming law reshaping the sector, this mobile game development story could not be more timely.

👉How SuperGaming grew a free-to-play portfolio to more than 200 million lifetime players across titles like MaskGun, Indus, and Silly Royale

👉Why Roby John treats India as a fast, free feedback lab and monetizes in Brazil, where in-app purchase conversion runs 6 to 12% versus under 1% at home

👉How the studio de-risks a hit-driven business by licensing its Indus Engine and SuperPlatform, including running the official mobile Pac-Man for Bandai Namco

👉What "ossification" means and why roughly 70% of app store game revenue still goes to titles made before 2020

👉Why Roby believes AI can cut the cost of a world-class game from 50 million dollars to 3 to 5 million, and why India is 5 to 7 years from its own billion dollar breakout

Subscribe to Founder Thesis for weekly founder conversations and follow Akshay Datt on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaydatt/] for daily insights.

00:00 - Inside India's Global Gaming Studio Bet

07:39 - How the Gaming Industry Actually Works

12:45 - Why Gaming Beats Movies and Music

29:52 - The Failed Startup Before SuperGaming

33:27 - Building Indus, the Wakanda of India

42:15 - How to De-Risk a AAA Game

50:22 - Extraction Shooters, Mobile Gaming's Next Genre

57:15 - India vs Brazil Monetization Gap

01:08:40 - The Truth About App Store Tax

01:16:43 - Can AI Build Cheaper Games

#SuperGaming #RobyJohn #FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #IndianGamingStartup #MobileGameDevelopment #IndusBattleRoyale #IndianGameStudio #BattleRoyaleIndia #FreeToPlayGames #GameDevelopmentIndia #HowToBuildAGameStudio #IndianStartups #GamingIndustryIndia #Web3Gaming #ExtractionShooters #AppStoreTax #StartupPodcast #FounderInterview #aiingaming

Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel