Gaming
Riot Games announces India Closed Qualifiers for ‘Convergence’
Mumbai: ‘Convergence’ by Riot Games in partnership with The Esports Club, is all set to showcase India’s esports prowess as the company today announced its plans to host an India Closed Qualifiers into the upcoming tournament. Joining forces with Lenovo as the Title Sponsor for its first ever international VALORANT esports tournament in India, Riot Games is committed to promoting local teams in the tournament scheduled between 14 to 17 December, 2023 at the Manpho Convention Center in Bangalore.
The India Closed Qualifiers will witness Indian VALORANT teams earn a chance to compete with some of the best professional VALORANT teams from Riot’s International Leagues from across the Pacific, EMEA and Americas. Scheduled to begin on 30 November, the closed qualifiers will invite the top six professional VALORANT teams from India to battle it out and secure a spot in the main tournament. The six teams will follow a Double Elimination format to select the home team that will join the Convergence main event. The upper bracket and lower bracket finals, as well as a grand finale of the qualifiers will be streamed on The Esports Club’s YouTube Channel, starting from 29 November. All teams have secured their invitation to the qualifiers based on their performance in the Indian domestic season in 2023.
Riot Games esports lead India & South Asia Sukamal Pegu said, “We are super excited to announce that the India Closed Qualifiers gives top local teams a great platform to showcase skills and play against some of the best professional VALORANT teams in the world. The goal behind Convergence is to grow esports talent in India and the qualifiers are a testament to the hyperlocal opportunities we are creating for our VALORANT community in the region.”
“Lenovo India has been championing esports as a dedicated way to reach out to gaming audiences, and with VALORANT being a popular title that’s well enjoyed across India we have been engaging with the title during various online and offline events. With our portfolio of great gaming products on Legion and LOQ, we feel it’s a great way for Lenovo to be seen and experienced by relevant younger TG who we believe will be glad that we are able to bring a great esports event to India” said Lenovo India director – marketing Chandrika Jain.
The main Convergence event starting from 14 December will be broadcast live in English on Riot’s Pacific Channels and in Hindi on Riot’s South Asia channels. The Esports Club will also carry the broadcasts on their channels.
Bolstering the gaming culture in India, Riot Games has been actively involved in fostering community engagement and enhancing the player experience with multiple initiatives over the past year. Recently, Riot Games celebrated the one-year anniversary of VALORANT’s first ever Indian agent Harbor by conducting a beach clean-up with the Indian gaming community, and also commemorated the third anniversary of VALORANT in India with BHARAT VALORANT celebrations.
The gaming community can witness the live action of the upcoming Convergence tournament through free and paid ticket options. Stay tuned for further details on ticketing set to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
