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Why Are Indian Youth Enthusiastic about Mobile Games?: Patterns of Mobile Gaming Experience and Social Network Formation Among Indian Young Adults

  • Asia Review
  • Abbr : SNUACAR
  • 2025, 15(3), pp.49~91
  • Publisher : 아시아연구소
  • Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general
  • Received : October 13, 2025
  • Accepted : December 15, 2025
  • Published : December 31, 2025

Sung Yong Kang 1

1서울대학교 아시아연구소

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the sociopolitical context of mobile gaming in India and examines how online games influence patterns of social network formation, levels of social trust, and attitudes toward openness among young mobile-game users within the highly segmented Indian society. The analysis is based on survey results from a university student population. Measures included items related to social consciousness―such as trust, tolerance, identity, fairness, and perceptions of inequality―as well as questions concerning quality of life and mobile-gaming behavior. The findings show that among young adults with mobile multiplayer gaming experience, the social significance of games, now firmly established as e-sports, has become noticeably prominent. Respondents reported that mobile games “enhance teamwork and cooperation,” “enable communication with others,” and “promote a spirit of challenge.” Importantly, in India, where friendship networks are often strongly restricted by caste boundaries, mobile gaming has enabled young players to experience achievements based on individual performance within anonymous cyber spaces and through cooperative interactions with diverse participants. In other words, the results confirm that mobile games in India are opening possibilities for interactions and exchanges across heterogeneous social groups.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2024 are currently being built.