As part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and to bring to forth the story of Indian freedom struggle, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur launched ‘Azadi Quest’, a series of online educational mobile games developed in collaboration with Zynga India on Wednesday
Also present at the occasion were Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Apurva Chandra, and Country Head of Zynga India, Shri Kishore Kichli.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Anurag Thakur said that this was another in a series of efforts by the Government to acknowledge the contribution, of our freedom fighters and unsung heroes, to the freedom struggle.
“These games are an effort to tap into the huge market of online gamers and to educate them through games. Various arms of Government of India have collected information about unsung freedom fighters from the corners of the country. Azadi Quest is an effort to make this learning of this knowledge engaging and interactive”, the Minister elaborated.
Thakur expressed confidence that people of all age groups will be hooked on to these games and they will become household favourites quickly.
Speaking on the rising AVGC sector in India, Thakur said that it has been a continuous effort of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to nurture the AVGC sector in India.
In the past few years India has risen to stand among the top 5 countries in the gaming sector. The gaming sector has grown by 28% in 2021 alone.
The number of online gamers has risen by 8 percent from 2020 to 2021 and by 2023 the number of such gamers is expected to reach 45 crores, the Minister added.
He further stated that these apps will bolster the capabilities of our AVGC sector and at the same time take our glorious history to the corners of the world.
The information in these apps has been curated by Publications Division and Indian Council of Historical Research and will become an easily accessible treasure-trove of authentic information on our freedom struggle, he said.
The Minister acknowledged the strenuous efforts of Zynga India that have gone into creation of these apps.
The Minister exhorted people of all age groups to download these apps and said this app will become an important educative tool to learn about our freedom struggle. The app will simultaneously entertain, engage and educate the users.
Speaking on the occasion, Kishore Kichli, Country Head of Zynga India, said that the path to independence commemorates a transformative milestone in India’s history and we are proud to be a part of this important national effort to honor India’s past.
Our mission at Zynga is to connect people through games. This initiative is designed to engage players of all ages while harnessing the power of interactive entertainment as a teaching experience about this important era. Kichli said.
The one of its kind initiative is inspired from Hon’ble PM’s call to the stakeholders of Gaming and Toy industries to develop games and toys that showcase the stories and milestones of India’s freedom struggle, and the valor of the great freedom fighters in order to engage, entertain and educate the people.
The first two games in the series ‘Azadi Quest’ tell the story of India’s freedom struggle, highlighting key milestones and heroes, interwoven with fun game play. The games’ content is simple yet comprehensive, having been specially curated by the Publications Division and vetted by experts of the Indian Council of Historical Research.
Azadi Quest:
The Publications Division today signed an MoU with Zynga India to develop a series of games under the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The Azadi Quest games are available for android and iOS devices in English and Hindi for the people of India and will be available worldwide from September 2022.
The online gaming company Zynga India was established in 2010 in Bengaluru and has developed some of the most popular game franchises across mobile and web.
