New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS): Delhi, in 2021, saw the highest number of online gamers among all the Indian cities and it was the only metro city that emerged in the list of top five, a report said on Thursday.

According to the India Mobile Gaming Report 2021 (IMGR) released by Mobile Premier League (MPL), Delhi topped the list and was followed by Jaipur, Pune, Lucknow, and Patna.

"Delhi, Jaipur, Pune, Lucknow and Patna have emerged as the top five cities in India in terms of the number of online gamers," the e-sports and skill gaming platform said in a statement.

"Cities such as Pune, Lucknow and Patna, saw a huge number of players taking to mobile games in 2021, toppling big cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. While Mumbai and Bengaluru clinched sixth and seventh positions, Kolkata was at the 12th position," it added.

Carrom, Fruit Dart, Fruit Chop, Runner No.1, and Block Puzzle were some of the top games that were played across different Indian cities, the report said.

Mobile esports like Chess and Pool also witnessed a sharp rise in the number of gamers in the country as the MPL platform alone registered 1.3 million esports players in 2021.

While nearly half a million games were played on the platform, it recorded 17 million live viewership.

A recent report by Consultancy firm EY mentioned that the Indian domestic market for online gaming is estimated to grow from $906 million in 2019 to more than $2 billion in 2023 representing a CAGR of nearly 22 per cent.

The EY report further elaborated that online gamers in India are estimated to grow from 360 million in 2020 to 510 million in 2022. Of these, an estimated 85 per cent are mobile gamers.