It was a game that started the first activity in the Indian Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) market in mid-2004.

But Ragnarok ? one of the more popular MMORPGs with over four million global users ? failed to create the stir it was expected to in the Indian market.

?The MMORPG market is still small here due to factors like lack of a gaming culture and low PC and broadband penetration,? said Venkat Mallik, managing director of Level Up Games, the Philippines-based company which publishes Ragnarok. The game has a strong presence in China, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

?We are in India for the long haul and wanted to start early since we think there is great potential here,? offered Mallik. To improve the situation, the company is now working closely with cyber cafes and concentrating on online and radio promotions. ?Some new episodes of the game are also scheduled for launch in India soon,? Mallik added.

Ragnarok is a fantasy game where players assume particular identities and undertake quests. The world of Ragnarok even runs its own economy by trading or selling virtual items and using a virtual currency called Zeny.

Though in other markets the game is played on a monthly subscription model, in India the game CD has to be bought for a one-time cost of Rs 100. ?We are planning to start subscription services for Indian gamers,? said Mallik.

Gaming industry observers feel massively multi-player online games have one of the hottest growth potentials in the Indian gaming market, one of the key reasons being that this eliminates the problem of piracy.

Level Up is also planning to launch some of its other MMORPGs in India soon.