Gaming
FAU-G: Domination playtests uncover India’s FPS game demands
Mumbai: Fearless and United Guards (FAU-G): Domination, the made-in-India first-person shooter (FPS) team deathmatch mobile game, recently held its latest playtests in Gurgaon and Mumbai. With enthusiastic participation, the playtest provided valuable insights into what Indian gamers seek in a homegrown FPS experience.
The key takeaways from the playtest include:
1. Around 85 per cent of players felt the visuals were an upgrade over the last playtest held in July 2024
2. Nearly 90 per cent of players believed the Indian environments and themes in-game are a standout feature
3. 55 per cent of players preferred the team deathmatch over other modes such as arms race, deathmatch, and search and destroy
4. Approximately 70 per cent felt the gunplay was in the range of ‘good’ to excellent’
5. 24 per cent felt their devices were overheating indicating the team has some way to go in terms of optimisation
6. Versus the last playtest held in July, the overall quality has improved by about 23 per cent
Developed by Mumbai-based Dot9 Games and published by Nazara Publishing, FAU-G: Domination recently crossed over one million pre-registrations on the Google Play Store for Android.
Given that the Indian shooter market comprises nearly 500 million players, the development team at Dot9 aims to ensure transparency and implement meaningful improvements for FAU-G: Domination through close collaboration with the community. Pre-launch playtests like these are essential to help made-in-India games thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Pre-registrations for FAU-G: Domination are now live on the Google Play Store for Android, with iOS and iPadOS pre-registrations coming soon. Players who pre-register will receive the Beast Collection, a limited edition set of in-game cosmetics inspired by the Tiger.
The collection includes six accessories: frame, banner, avatar, sticker, spray, and charm, along with six gun skins: sawed-off shotgun, USP, Scout rifle, M4, Uzi, and Kabar. The Beast collection will only be available to players who pre-register and will not be offered after launch.
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.
