As part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and to bring forth the story of Indian freedom struggle, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur on Wednesday launched ‘Azadi Quest’, a series of online educational mobile games developed in collaboration with Zynga India.

Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said that this was another in a series of efforts by the government to acknowledge the contribution to the freedom struggle of the freedom fighters and unsung heroes.

“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 the 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 five countries in the gaming sector. The gaming sector has grown by 28 percent in 2021 alone. The number of online gamers has risen by eight percent from 2020 to 2021 and by 2023 the number of such gamers is expected to reach 45 crore, 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 MIB’s Publications Division and the Indian Council of Historical Research and will become an easily accessible treasure-trove of authentic information on our freedom struggle, he said.

According to Kishore Kichli, Country Head of Zynga India, the path to independence commemorates a transformative milestone in India’s history and that they were proud to be a part of this important national effort to honour 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,” he added.

Also present at the occasion were MIB Secretary Apurva Chandra and other senior officials of the ministry.

The Publications Division has also 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 unique game series, based on the concept of ‘Gamification of Education’ will revolutionize the education sector in the country.

The year-long partnership between the Publications division and Zynga India will deliver more such games and will also expand the existing games in terms of content and features with a vision to educate about the different aspects of India’s freedom struggle and inculcate a feeling of patriotism among the people, especially students and youth.