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Pentamedia invests $4 m. in Purple Drop Inc.

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CIOL Bureau
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MUMBAI: India's software industry is counting on the country's rich heritage

of epic myths and legends to provide fantastic inspiration for its computer game

developers. More than half of all computer games are now being produced in the

United States, Canada and Britain, while Japan accounts for some 12 per cent of

output.

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But India's software industry, which has already developed a reputation for

programming skills, does not intend to be sidelined and has just made its first

move into the global interactive gaming market.

Chennai-based Pentamedia Graphics Ltd., which has carved a niche for itself

in making computer animation films and entertainment, has invested $4 million in

Purple Drop, Inc, a Silicon Valley startup which will help its army of engineers

serve the gaming industry and develop games based on its films.

Is India ready to play?



"I think so," said Ashok Desai, founder and chief executive of Purple
Drop and a former India chief of Silicon Graphics Inc, which makes

graphics-heavy computers used by Hollywood and defense research laboratories.

The combined market of the United States and Europe in gaming, now around $6

billion is expected to grow to $14 billion in about four years, Desai said.

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India faced some hurdles - low PC penetration, the possibility of piracy and

the general perception of games as an unproductive activity. But it also had an

advantage in its rich tradition of mythology, Desai said. "We have a

cultural heritage that few can match," he said.

Purple Drop has been given the rights to make games out of Pentamedia's

animation films, Pandavas, based on the five princes at the center of India's

ancient epic, The Mahabharata, and Sinbad, based on the legendary Arabian Nights

tale.

Off the radar screen



India's software industry has annual exports of around $6 billion and nearly 20
per cent of the global market share in customized software. But, it is nowhere

in the picture when it comes to games. "India is not even on the radar

screen today. We can change that," Desai told a seminar at the annual

conference of Nasscom 2001.

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Desai's company will form a marketing and strategic gateway to the West for

Pentamedia. It aims to provide technology services for game developers, software

to enable games on rival platforms and eventually to develop its own gaming

engine.

Playing consoles now account for around $5 billion in software revenue

globally and personal computers around $2 billion. But PC revenues will stagnate

over the next four years, while consoles will grow to nearly $10 billion, he

said. Online gaming over broadband Internet is also poised to grow sharply.

Sony's leading playstation console is soon expected to face a major challenge

from Microsoft Corp's X-Box, and there will be nearly 150 million consoles by

2005, providing a chance for millions of players and billions of dollars, Desai

said.

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"The launch of Purple Drop is proof of our belief that the time is right

to respond to this high-end graphics need as a focused entity," Pentamedia

chairman V Chandrasekaran said.

blends learning and playing. Purple Drop hopes to average $40 million in revenue

per year over the next three years.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

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