Gaming
Revenant Esports joins Sunburn for India’s Game-The-Beat
MUMBAI: Get ready to level up your festival experience. Revenant Esports is teaming up with Asia’s premier EDM festival, Sunburn, for a first-of-its-kind collaboration called “Game The Beat.” The initiative will debut at Sunburn Festival 2025, taking place from December 19 to 21 at Infiniti Bay, Sewri, Mumbai.
The partnership bridges the worlds of digital gaming and live music, blending Revenant’s massive online community with Sunburn’s high-energy festival vibes. Fans can expect a dynamic lifestyle experience where raves meet raids and beats meet battles, redefining youth entertainment in India.
Revenant Esports founder and CEO said, “Music and gaming are two of the biggest youth engagement platforms in India. Game The Beat unites the rhythm of sound with the rush of gaming, creating an immersive ecosystem for millions of fans.”
Sunburn CEO Karan Singh added, “Partnering with Revenant Esports reflects the evolution of audience behaviour, where experiences go beyond formats. Together, we are shaping a new era of immersive entertainment for a generation that actively creates culture.”
The collaboration will include creator-led content featuring stars like Scout, Kaashvi, Sensei and Vanshaj, Sunburn-branded gaming events, custom lobbies, giveaways, and a mini-series documenting creators’ journeys from gaming bootcamps to the Sunburn stage. A dedicated Gaming Arena at the festival will host live tournaments, meet-and-greets, and interactive experiences, along with exclusive co-branded merchandise and digital content.
Game The Beat is expected to generate 3–5 million digital reach, marking a major milestone in the convergence of music and gaming culture for India’s Gen Z audience.
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.
