Gaming
Eight teams revealed for Pokémon Unite ACL 2025 India League
Mumbai: The Pokémon Company has announced details of the newly launched India League, part of the Pokémon Unite Asia Champions League (PUACL) 2025. As part of this initiative, eight Indian esports organisations have been invited to participate in the tournament, with the unique roadmap and incentives attracting the country’s top esports organisations to sign rosters in India.
The eight partnered teams for the inaugural PUACL 2025 India League are as follows:
● GodLike Esports
● Gods Reign
● Global Esports
● Marcos Gaming
● Reckoning Esports
● Revenant Esports
● S8UL Esports
● True Rippers
These teams will compete in the regular season of the PUACL 2025 India League, which takes place across eight matchdays on weekends from 16 Nov 2024 to 26 Jan 2025. The competition will include a group stage and playoffs to determine the champion team, which will represent the country at the Pokémon Unite ACL 2025 offline final in Japan.
Seven of the matchdays will feature the group stage, where teams will compete in a single-elimination bracket on each day of competition. The overall standings in the group stage will decide their seedings for the Playoffs on 26 Jan 2025, where the eight teams will compete in a knockout round system to crown the champion.
The prize pool for the Pokémon Unite ACL 2025 India League is an impressive $40,000, distributed as follows:
● First place: $16,000
● Second place: $8,000
● Third place: $6,000
● Fourth place: $4,000
● Fifth place: $2,000
● Sixth place: $2,000
● Seventh place: $1,200
● Eigth place: $800
The Pokémon Unite team at The Pokémon Company said: “We are thrilled to bring the first-ever partnered PUACL League to India, marking a historic step in the evolution of the Indian Pokémon Unite community. With this tournament and our dedicated roadmap, we’re spotlighting the incredible talent within the country. This format provides a pathway for Indian teams to showcase their skills on a global stage in Japan, underscoring our commitment to building a vibrant, competitive future for Pokémon Unite in India.”
Skyesports, which has been working with The Pokémon Company since 2022 to develop Pokémon Unite esports in India, has been selected as the esports partner for the event.
Additionally, an open-for-all tournament for Indian players, the winter open, is also coming soon. More information about it will be announced at a later date.
Skyesports founder & CEO Shiva Nandy commented: “Since 2022, we have been diligently working with The Pokémon Company to grow Pokémon Unite in India. Now, with a clear roadmap that ensures sustainability and offers a path to represent the country on an international stage, we’ve successfully brought India’s top esports organizations into the game, establishing it as a leading title in the country. The open-for-all Winter Open further gives every player a chance to earn their spot at PUACL Final in Japan, creating a truly inclusive and unprecedented opportunity for the Indian gaming community.”
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.
