In an initiative to enable the 100,000 or so private Internet cafes in the country compete with organized players, Indiagames has launched its Games on Demand Partnership Program for Cyber Cafes. For this program, the company has tied-up with leading publishers including Microsoft, Codemasters, Playfirst, Atari, and Activision.

Games on Demand aims to address the issues that typically plague gaming in the country such as software piracy and the prevalent high prices of gaming software.

With Games on Demand, users can choose and play from an extensive catalogue of games, sans the need to purchase or install these on local PCs. Currently, over 100 games are on offer for just Rs 225 per month. Otherwise, these games cost anywhere near Rs 100,000 taking into consideration the retail prices for legal software...

Amongst the games available, internationally renowned titles include: Age of Empires II, Brian Lara's Cricket, IGI 2 Covert Strike, and Toca Race Driver 2, et al. And, new games are intended to be added every month.

As of now, Games on Demand is available to home Internet users through Indiagames' partnership with leading broadband service providers like Airtel, MTNL, Tata VSNL, and You Telecom. Plans are in the pipeline to launch the service on BSNL as well.

Commenting on the service, Vishal Gondal, founder and chief executive officer, Indiagames, said, "Besides broadband subscribers and home PC users, there is a large percentage of people in India who access the Internet through Internet cafes. With the launch of the Games on Demand Cyber Caf Program, we hope to take a world-class gaming experience to the masses."

Indiagames says it intends the service to be more than just an access to licensed original games; the company hopes to provide Internet caf owners with an alternative source of income, as also a tool for retaining customer loyalty.