Last week, Nazara[1], one of India’s oldest gaming companies, announced the acquisition of Nodwin[2] Gaming. This comes a year after the firm announced plans to enter into the e-sports space[3]. Nodwin has been working towards making e-sports a mainstream event[4] in the country through its partnerships with international heavyweights like the Electronic Sports League (ESL) and Valve.
Gadgets 360 spoke to Nazara CEO Manish Agarwal and Nodwin CEO and Managing Director, Akshat Rathee to understand more about the deal at hand.
“The game plan with this acquisition is simple. Nazara’s e-sports venture will be led by Nodwin. It's an independent subsidiary so they will do leagues and cups as their own IP and for third-parties as they have in the past,” says Agarwal.
Previously, Nazara had stated its intent to run its own e-sports league. It planned to create an entire e-sports ecosystem from a grass roots level similar to Blizzard's Overwatch League[5], or cricket's IPL, but for multiple games as well as having its own e-sports league. This is still the intention, but when it will happen is yet to be decided.
“As for a Nazara Gaming League, we’re 100 percent doing it, but it depends on timing it right,” Rathee confirms. “It has to build return on investment and value for Nazara, if it will stand on its own legs, we’ll go ahead and do it.”
One of India's Oldest Mobile Game Studios Is Going All-in on E-Sports[6]
Considering Nazara’s strengths lie in mobile game distribution and publishing, Agarwal believes this deal gives it the flexibility to diversify, despite the scale of the gaming in the nation. The partnership with Nazara ensures Nodwin...