Gaming
GEMS | Monetisation, improved experiences required to level-up e-gaming in India: Dhaval Ponda
NEW DELHI: Gaming and e-sports is swiftly going mainstream in India and for the industry, it’s only onward and upwards from here. PUBG ban not withstanding, the sector is giving stiff competition to major sporting events while simultaneously attracting broadcasters, aggregators, players, and viewers – all the markers of a robust ecosystem of growth and success.
However, there are still certain areas that need work in order to fully tap into the industry’s potential. At the first Gaming, E-sports, and More Summit (GEMS), presented by indiantelevision.com and AnimationXpress.com, co-powered by Tata Communications, this hot-button issue was taken up and thoroughly examined by industry experts.
Opening the two-day-long virtual summit with his keynote address, Tata Communications global head media and entertainment Dhaval Ponda shed light on the emerging trends, growth drivers, and barriers impacting the Indian e-sports and gaming industry.
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While the Indian gaming crowd is growing at a faster click than the global community, it is still not getting the right monetisation and publishing support within the country, says Ponda. Indian gamers today make for 15 per cent of the global total but the domestic market size is less than 1 per cent in value. Indian game publishers are only 3 per cent of the global value.
Though he insisted that things have started improving since 2018, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the sector of broadcasting and monetisation.
“We are seeing that e-sports gaming content is now being treated by these broadcasters as good as tier-1 traditional sports, and is being watched by millions of viewers. So, you (broadcasters) are also going to attract the same rights-holding fee that you would charge from tier-1 sports, like cricket and football,” stated Ponda.
Broadcasts will not only be crucial to gauge interest and get tongues wagging about e-sports,but also sustain andreinforce the community, he explained.
He added that the platforms also need to consider what else they can do beside streaming e-sports live to grab eyeballs, and make it an wholesome experience for viewers as well as the gaming community. “If you are investing, try and understand how you can be unique in your content. Ask yourself if you can have content outside of just gaming,” said Ponda. To drive his point home, he added: “For example, the way you document the NBA champions. Everyone knows where the player was born, what their history is.”
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Ponda insisted that a similar culture needs to be developed for players in e-sports and gaming categories too. “People want to know who they (the players) are and where they are coming from. It is the sort of content that also sustains engagement and active viewership.”
User-experience is also going to be a crucial factor in promoting and supporting the community. “The digital infrastructure needs to grow leaps and bounds in terms of broadband and mobile internet availability. Furthermore, a sound cloud architecture, transcoding infrastructure and CDN infrastructure is required to have a good viewing experience,” he said.
Artistic and technical talent for the game development side is quite crucial too, Ponda pointed out, and suggested that the industry take inspiration from gaming studios in LA, London, and south Korea to finetune the culture within India.
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.
