Gaming
Asiaville unveils next-gen tech for gaming and entertainment content
Mumbai: Asiaville, the IP-driven vernacular language media-tech company, has announced the introduction of AIGE, a hyper-interactive content technology that seamlessly merges cinematic video content with interactive entertainment and gaming elements. The technology gives viewers the chance to control storylines and narratives, thereby drastically increasing viewer engagement.
“The new content plus technology format – AyeVee Interactive Gamified Experience (AIGE) – is the future of entertainment and gaming content,” said Asiaville Interactive Pvt Ltd co-founder and CEO Tuhin Menon.
“At a time when the mammoth content market is increasingly becoming flat – and its viewers inattentive – we believe the AIGE technology will prove to be the jump the Indian media industry needs. This patent-pending format is a unique mix of cinematic entertainment, interactivity, and gaming, all blended into a seamless experience that puts the user at the heart of the storytelling experience,” said Menon.
The company rolled out two pilot shows, “Who Killed Kavitha?” and “Let Me Out!” on the AIGE format.
“Releases of Malayalam shows ‘Let Me Out!’ and Tamil show ‘Who Killed Kavitha?’ just last month have already garnered fantastic engagement numbers. With close to a million downloads of the AyeVee app, user completion rate for the AIGE shows has been over 50 per cent,
with users interacting an average of 50 times with each show.”
“More importantly, the average time spent by each user per day has consistently exceeded 45 minutes, benchmarking exceedingly well even with the best of the OTT platforms. Notably, an unprecedented 30 percent of users completed both the game shows in one session entirely at one go,” added Menon.
The two pilot shows garnered ratings of over 4.6/5, with seven lakh minutes of cumulative time spent on the two shows. The ratings and the engagements are indicative of the change content creators and consumers actively seek.
“The two shows demonstrated that the technology has meaningful scope for brands and advertisers. AIGE content will make in-film brands interactive as well, giving users the freedom the check out products well inside the storyline. AIGE opens up a whole new medium of engagement for brands, as users engage with them in customised and immersive brand environments,” added Menon.
The cumulative entertainment and gaming market in India – with a TAM of roughly $3 billion – represents a large monetisation opportunity for AIGE, which is poised at the intersection of these two cohorts.
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.
