Winning The Woman Entrepreneurial Game
Imagine being transported to a different world by time machine, facing a horde of zombies to save yourself and then finally making it safe back home. This is what the Zero Latency’s founder Parineeta Rajgarhia experienced when she first tried Zero Latency in Bangkok in January 2019.
“It was a heart pounding experience and I was sweating profusely by the end of it both due to excitement and the active experience of shooting with a full-size gun for almost 30 minutes. I had never tried anything like this before and it made me think that India was definitely missing out on a world class experience like this,” she says.
This marked the inception of a global leader in warehouse scale, free-roam, multiplayer virtual reality entertainment, Zero Latency, dedicated to creating the most immersive engaging experiences in the world.
The Starting Point
Aimed at proffering a novel experience to the Indian audience that goes beyond the usual dinners, movies and theatres, Rajgarhia launched Zero Latency in India in August 2019. This roam-free technology allowed players to move freely in an open space and not be constrained by cables and other immobile equipment.
She was confident that VR would become the mainstream of the Indian gaming market and that it will make business sense too. The company first partnered with Samrey Entertainments to bring ‘Free Roam Virtual Reality’ experience to India for the first time ever.
Agreeing that launching such a technology in the Indian market was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride, Rajgarhia explains, “Bringing Zero Latency to India was very exciting yet challenging. Getting the first few footfalls was a bit tough and to explain to people how Free Roam VR was completely different from the traditional VR experience was taxing. But given the experience it is, referrals clearly helped us a lot and I am very glad for having got it to India at the right time.”
“To bring about an authentic experience and environment, it required searching through locations of all sorts, understanding if the compliances could be built and so on. Apart from the location, I faced unconscious biases as a woman ‘gaming’ entrepreneur. I received quizzical glances every time I spoke about my venture, as people didn’t associate gaming with women. Unbothered, I still went headstrong and changed their perspective,” she adds.
Gender Agnostic Industry
The gaming industry (players as well as workforce) was largely male dominated as until a few years ago less than 15 per cent of gamers were females and by 2020 females constituted only 24 per cent of the industry workforce. But now more and more women are becoming a part of the gaming industry by actively embracing a career in gaming as entrepreneurs, developers, gaming influencers and so on. In fact, according to HP India Gaming Landscape Report 2021, at least 84 per cent of women respondents in a survey said that they want to pursue gaming as a full-time career. There are developments and adaptations taking place to involve women in the gaming community as a whole. Rajgarhia observes that women entering the gaming space are acting as disruptors and pushing for creation of content that meets their taste and liking. Driving for better innovation and making gaming an experiential activity has helped in growing past shooting and racing games only (games largely thought to provide thrill to men) and led to creation of games of different genres such as role-playing games, adventure games, puzzle games and so on.
Another big adaptation within new content has been the inclusion of female characters in the games and overcoming sexism. Developers are now coming up with more games that have female protagonists compared to only male protagonists previously. In 2020 alone, new games with female leads recorded an increase of 18 per cent compared to an average of 5 per cent over the past few years.
Further, more and more women are joining the industry workforce and even taking entrepreneurial roles in the gaming industry.
Impressive Growth
Although the VR gaming industry in India is at a nascent stage, it is taking rapid strides. The speed with which Zero Latency’s offerings were accepted by the customers is a proof of this. “VR did start off as a luxury, but it still has some distance to cover to become mainstream. I believe for it to become mainstream in India, companies now need to shift their focus to more advanced VR offerings such as VR gaming arenas and freeroam VR experiences that people can enjoy along with their friends and family,” Rajgarhia says.
Driven by higher disposable income and technological advancements in the gaming and entertainment industry, India is gearing up to see a remarkable demand for VR games, believes Rajgarhia. She is hopeful that global experiences in gaming will cement themselves in India soon. Esports, which is another new rage in the Indian gaming arena, will also set foot in the VR gaming industry.
Highlighting the future plans of the company, Rajgarhia says she is looking to create more facilities across the country. With gaming penetrating smaller cities, foregoing age barriers and overcoming gender bias, free-roam VR experiences are expected to be well received by audiences across the nation.
