Gaming
Gamingcon Bharat 2025 set to level up India’s gaming scene
MUMBAI: India’s gaming revolution is about to hit a new high score. The Indian Game Publishers and Developers Association (IGPDA) has announced Gamingcon Bharat 2025, taking place at the NESCO Bombay exhibition centre on 29–30 November. Billed as India’s largest gaming festival and industry conference, the event promises to unite gamers, developers, publishers, investors, and policymakers under one roof.
With over 10,000 attendees expected, Gamingcon Bharat will feature epic esports showdowns including FAU-G: Domination, Indus Battle Royale, BGMI, and Valorant, alongside the Indieverse Showcase highlighting Made-in-India IPs such as Mukti, Age of Bhaarat, and Ludo King. Fans can also catch the Cosplay Grand Finale, explore 100 plus tech and gaming brands in the Expo zone, and enjoy eight action-packed fan zones and stages.
For creators and industry leaders, the IGPDA India Gaming Conference will run alongside, offering insights on AI, cloud gaming, global IPs, and policy frameworks. Senior government officials and policymakers will engage directly with the gaming ecosystem.
Nazara Technologies CEO Nitesh Mittersain said, “For the first time, India has a platform of this magnitude to showcase its own IPs to the world. Gamingcon Bharat is the launchpad for India’s next gaming success stories.”
Tara Gaming co-founder and best-selling author Amish Tripathi added, “Video gaming is the biggest creative industry, and it’s about time India had a rallying point for gamers and the industry to call its own. Gamingcon Bharat 2025 is that rallying point.”
Gametion CEO Vikash Jaiswal summed it up, “For culturally-rich Indian games to succeed globally, they first need to succeed at home. Gamingcon Bharat 2025 is the home for Indian gaming. The world has Gamescom, we have Gamingcon.”
From indie developers to global investors, Gamingcon Bharat 2025 aims to level up India’s gaming industry, creating a home-grown stage where local talent can shine globally.
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.
