Gaming
India’s esports athletes gear up for FIFAe World Cup
Mumbai: In a country where mobile gaming dominates and interest in football continues to rise, India’s talented gamers now have the opportunity to compete for glory on the global stage in eFootball at the FIFAe World Cup. Following the recent partnership between FIFA and Konami, eFootball, Konami’s football simulation game, has been officially included as one of the official titles featured in the FIFAe World Cup, alongside Rocket League and Football Manager.
In this inaugural year of this new development, India is among 18 countries officially invited to participate in eFootball at the global tournament, joining nations such as Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Spain, and Portugal. The top-performing athletes from each country will face off in the finals later this year across both mobile and console platforms.
According to the India Games Market Report 2023 by Niko partners, India is primarily a mobile-first market, with 96.8 per cent of gamers using smartphones or tablets. The total number of gamers across all platforms is expected to reach 641.2 million by 2027.
With India at the forefront of the mobile gaming revolution and eFootball available for free download, the country’s vast base of mobile gamers have the chance to turn their passion into success on the international stage. The free-to-play aspect also facilitates easier training and participation for India’s talented mobile gamers across all backgrounds, eliminating barriers that typically limit access to high-level competitive play.
Sharing his thoughts on the opportunity this presents for India’s esports industry, NODWIN Gaming co-founder and managing director Akshat Rathee said, “This collaboration between FIFA and Konami to bring eFootball into the FIFAe World Cup is a significant moment for Indian esports. India’s inclusion in this global event is a source of immense national pride. The accessibility of a free-to-play game like eFootball ensures wider participation, and with FIFA fueling the esports ecosystem, we are witnessing the seamless integration of sports and esports—ushering in new opportunities for Indian gamers to shine on the world stage.”
eFootball is also set to be featured in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s upcoming WAVES Esports Championship 2025 (WESC). The nation has also been consistently competing in the title at the Global Esports Games.
“The recognition of India as a region in a global esports tournament like the FIFA eWorld Cup is monumental for Indian esports. This collaboration between KONAMI and FIFA opens up valuable avenues for both mobile and console gamers across the country to compete on the international stage. Additionally, with eFootball being included in the roster of tournaments like WAVES 2025 which is supported by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the title has great potential to bring further opportunities to aspiring Indian esports athletes,” commented S8UL and 8Bit creatives aka 8Bit Thug, co-founder Animesh Agarwal.
Earlier this year, Konami announced that eFootball has surpassed 700 million total downloads worldwide.
Despite being a nation passionate about football, India has yet to compete in the FIFA World Cup. With the qualifiers for eFootball already underway, the nation’s talented esports athletes have the chance to bridge that gap by qualifying to represent the country at the FIFAe World Cup.
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.
