- India’s OTT and VFX sectors are expanding faster than gaming, pulling from the same pool of 3D, animation, and Unreal/Unity talent.
- Training pipelines overwhelmingly favor animation/VFX, leaving fewer industry-ready artists for game studios.
- Without stronger career pathways and industry–institute collaboration, gaming faces a growing talent shortage.
India’s gaming studios are racing to build bigger, better-looking games, yet they may be walking into a talent shortage no one is talking about. The country’s animation and visual effects (VFX) sector, fuelled by an aggressive OTT content boom, is expanding so rapidly that it’s drawing from the same pool of artists game developers rely on. 3D modellers, riggers, Unreal/Unity specialists, and technical animators are at a crossroads, having to choose between the highly lucrative VFX sector and the gaming industry.
The danger isn’t loud or dramatic; it’s structural. As streaming platforms commission more visually heavy content and as state governments funnel resources into AVGC training, gaming could soon find itself outbid and outpaced when it comes to art talent.
We spoke to Ravi Sharma, who is a director at one of Arena Animation Kolkata’s branches. He shared his insights based on his experience of working with the AVGC-XR institute. According to him, “Students are increasingly choosing animation and VFX because that’s where they see immediate placement and clearer career progression. Gaming excites them, but the opportunities feel fewer and more concentrated in a few cities.”
The OTT–VFX Boom is Growing Faster Than Games
Multiple industry reports show that although gaming is growing rapidly, the animation–VFX segment is scaling even faster, driven primarily by streaming platforms investing heavily in Indian content. The online gaming sector is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5%, while online gaming is growing at 10.8% according to a report by E&Y.
More importantly, animation and VFX jobs are becoming a part of the digital media industry as OTT giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar continue to commission VFX-heavy originals. Digital media is exponentially larger than gaming in India, and it should continue to maintain the lead until at least 2027, according to the E&Y report. They are pushing demand for asset creation, background design, and real-time tools. For artists, this translates into predictable work pipelines and more stable income.
From the training side, this shift is impossible to miss. As Sharma noted, “When students walk in, many of them now say they want to work on OTT shows, and they name Netflix before they name any game studio. Five years ago, that wasn’t the case. However, the OTT industry is heavily saturated and competitive, while gaming industry jobs are more readily available. There is a large mismatch between VFX and gaming industry placements, as showrunners typically pay around 50% higher salaries than the gaming industry at our institute.”
This isn’t just two industries growing in parallel; it’s two industries competing for the same people. Whether it’s a stylized mobile game or a fantasy web series, the requirements overlap heavily. Sharma revealed that both careers require skills in character modelling, rigging, lighting, FX simulation, and increasingly, real-time engines.
VFX vendors typically absorb large batches of entry-level and mid-level artists, which is precisely the group that Indian game studios depend on to scale. Gaming’s smaller headcount and slower recruitment cycles make it harder to compete for fresh talent. Sharma has seen this play out repeatedly: “Unreal and Unity students almost always get more interview calls from VFX and virtual production than from game studios. The skill set overlaps, but the demand on the OTT side is simply higher right now.”
Government Training Pipelines are Fueling VFX, not Games
The Indian government’s AVGC-XR initiatives across states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, and Delhi promise to create thousands of new jobs and strengthen India’s position in the global content economy. On paper, these policies look transformational, offering subsidies, training grants, and incubation facilities. But despite the ambition, most of these frameworks treat animation, VFX, gaming, XR, and digital production as one large bucket.
The curriculum push that follows naturally becomes broad and film-oriented, with institutes prioritizing animation and VFX training because that’s where the production pipelines, industry partnerships, and internship slots already exist.
Game development, with its unique workflows and engines, might end up receiving far less attention. As Sharma explains, “Most training programs use animation and VFX case studies because that’s where the industry partnerships and internship slots exist. Game-specific training only happens when a studio requests it, which is rare.”
This creates a subtle but significant imbalance. The talent pipeline is indeed expanding, but it is expanding toward OTT and VFX— sectors that absorb trained artists quickly and at scale. By the time students graduate, they are technically “industry-ready,” but often for the wrong industry from the perspective of game studios trying to hire character artists, technical artists, or Unreal specialists. Even though junior-level salaries overlap between VFX and gaming, mid-career artists increasingly perceive OTT-driven work as more predictable and rewarding.
Sharma regularly hears this from candidates that their “parents understand Netflix; they don’t understand game dev.” There are also deeper psychological factors. The uncertainty created by real-money gaming regulations, despite the introduction of the Online Gaming Bill, has blurred the public understanding of the broader gaming sector, making fresh graduates hesitant to join anything labelled “gaming.”
Meanwhile, mid-sized game studios often outsource heavy asset production, which can make internal career progression feel unrewarding. By contrast, VFX vendors operate like structured service companies with well-defined hierarchies and constant projects coming their way.
Sharma summarizes this sentiment clearly: “For many artists, gaming feels exciting but risky. VFX feels like a stable service industry where they can grow without worrying about the market cycle. This perception shapes career choices in powerful ways, especially for students investing heavily in vocational education and prioritizing guaranteed placement. Until policies begin distinguishing gaming’s needs from the wider AVGC-XR umbrella, the pipeline will continue feeding OTT and VFX more efficiently than it feeds India’s game studios.”
What a Talent Crunch Could Mean for Indian Gaming Studios
If the current trend continues, Indian game developers may soon face several compounding roadblocks. Hiring costs are already beginning to climb as studios feel pressured to match salary expectations shaped by the OTT and VFX sectors.
Production timelines for visually ambitious or 3D-heavy projects risk slipping as studios struggle to secure experienced artists on time. This is particularly worrying in a market with hundreds of millions of gamers whose expectations for polish and visual fidelity continue to rise year after year. A shortage of in-house talent also increases dependence on outsourcing, pushing studios toward asset packs or overseas vendors, which may solve immediate production needs but weaken the long-term ecosystem.
Ultimately, India’s dream of building mid-sized or AAA-quality games becomes harder to realize if senior art talent is consistently drifting to more stable VFX pipelines.
Sharma has already observed early signs of this pressure from the education side. “Studios are calling more frequently, asking for experienced artists, not freshers. That’s usually a sign that the internal pipeline is thinning out.”
To prevent this imbalance from deepening, both studios and policymakers will need to rethink how game-art talent is nurtured. Here are some of the things that need to change, according to Sharma, if gaming wants to thrive:
Studios need to build internal learning ecosystems: Game-focused apprenticeships, art bootcamps, and structured on-the-job training can help absorb talent directly from institutes before OTT and VFX productions attract them. These programs also signal long-term commitment, something students actively look for.
Institutes need clearer incentives to prioritize game art: According to Sharma, the real shift must begin with industry involvement: “If game studios interacted more with institutes through guest lectures, live briefs, and internships, we could funnel more students their way. Right now, VFX studios do that more aggressively.” Without steady engagement from gaming companies, institutes naturally lean toward the sectors that show up consistently.
Policymakers must separate animation/VFX from game development: Today’s AVGC policies group all sub-sectors together, but gaming requires distinct skills, software workflows, and real-time engine expertise. Dedicated game-art tracks, revised curricula, and internships designed specifically for games would rebalance the funnel and address the mismatch.
Studios should offer clearer internal career ladders: For many artists, the hesitation isn’t purely financial; it's also about uncertainty. Transparent growth paths from junior to mid to senior to lead at game studios can make gaming feel as structured and stable as the VFX service industry, reducing attrition and preventing mid-career talent flight.
Together, these measures could help correct the trajectory before the talent gap becomes too wide for studios to bridge, ensuring Indian gaming grows in tandem with its booming animation and VFX counterparts, rather than losing ground to them. The Indian gaming industry is on the cusp of major growth, but so is the OTT-driven VFX sector. Both depend on the same talent, but only one of them currently has the larger funnel, clearer pathways, and stronger pull.
Sharma sums up the situation without sugarcoating it: “There’s no immediate crisis, but the direction of movement is clear. If gaming wants to keep its artists, it has to make itself visible, accessible, and aspirational to students again.” Unless that happens soon, India could build an audience for gaming without ever building a homegrown workforce to match it.
