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Hungama, Gameshastra form JV to launch games for Indian market
MUMBAI: Hungama Digital Media Entertainment (Hungama), India‘s leading digital entertainment company, has formed a joint venture with Gameshastra, India‘s largest game studio, to create multi-platform games for the Indian market.
The new alliance brings together Hungama‘s strengths in digital entertainment, with expertise in the area of mobile and online gaming and Gameshastra‘s expertise in game development to deliver localised games across various platforms.
Speaking on the alliance, Hungama MD & CEO Neeraj Roy said, “The concept of gaming has caught on across the world and is gaining rapid pace especially in the mobile and connected devices environment. Through our partnership with Gameshastra, we will create a bouquet of games that are engaging and addictive for the average gaming enthusiast. We hope to provide them with the ultimate gaming experience in the comfort of whichever connected environment they choose.”
Through the joint venture with Gameshastra, Hungama will bring their exclusive IP across various genres – Bollywood, celebrities, sports, and lifestyle, in console gaming and games for the iOS and Android platforms.
Hungama‘s expertise in content development for the digital platform will be coupled with Gameshastra‘s strength in sales and distribution of games across mobile, web portals, DTH, Smart phones and feature phone devices.
Gameshastra CEO Prakash Ahuja said, “The sophisticated devices and seamless connectivity has brought us to a whole new age of gaming. This partnership between Hungama and Gameshastra will strive to provide this new age gaming experience across genres and platforms to the Indian audience. We see a huge demand, for localized content and our partnership shall definitely be the starting point of an emerging trend in the Indian gaming arena.”
Gameshastra is India‘s leading game development studio with expertise in game development across platforms like PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, Android, iPhone, iPad, Facebook, Xbox 360, and PC/Mac. They have developed titles like DesiAdda and Cart Kings which are still popular on PS2 platform.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
