Section Article

Ethnographic Study of Online Gaming Communities in Rural India
Author(s): Gopal Khushwaha

Abstract
The expansion of digital infrastructure and affordable mobile data in India has led to an unexpected yet significant cultural shift—the rise of online gaming in rural regions. Contrary to the stereotype that gaming is primarily an urban or elite phenomenon rural India has witnessed the emergence of vibrant connected online gaming communities shaped by local values aspirations and constraints. This ethnographic study investigates the nature of these communities exploring how rural youth engage with online multiplayer games build digital relationships and redefine entertainment identity and social bonding. Based on immersive fieldwork in villages across Uttar Pradesh Jharkhand and Maharashtra the paper examines the socio-cultural contexts of rural gaming practices the negotiation between global gaming cultures and local realities and the implications of this trend on education familial relationships gender norms and digital literacy. The findings reveal that online gaming in rural India is not merely a pastime but an emergent cultural space that reflects deeper transformations in rural youth life aspirations and community interaction.