Gaming
Global Esports & Santanu Hazarika collab to design an exclusive Valorant Championship Tour jersey
Mumbai: Breaking barriers between art and gaming, a leader in South Asia’s gaming scene, Global Esports (GE) and established multidisciplinary artist Santanu Hazarika have come together to design a one-of-its-kind jersey for GE’s Valorant Championship Tour (VCT) roster. This exclusive limited-edition jersey drop is set to mark a digital renaissance in the dynamic Indian art and gaming landscapes.
The collaboration between the esports organisation and the artist is an endeavour to break the norms and reinvent the idea of how an esports jersey should look. It showcases Santanu elevating the typical plain, functional ‘team uniform’ for GE’s VCT squad by adding a distinct style quotient to it. The new jersey design perfectly embodies the convergence of art and the esports revolution of India.
Global Esports CEO and founder Rushindra Sinha mentioned, “Our jersey design has been based on our brand colours for the last decade. Generally, jerseys are looked at from the perspective of it being a uniform, and no one has really thought about disrupting it. However, we wanted to do something different. We wanted it to be a work of art while also looking at adding an element of fashion. That’s where Santanu stepped in to add his unique layer of art.”
He further added, “What makes this collaboration even more exciting is that this is perhaps an opportune way to own an exclusive Santanu Hazarika artwork. I believe this adds an evolutionary value to our jerseys!”
For designing the jersey, Santanu primarily drew inspiration from the ‘GE Lion’ depicted in Global Esports’ VCT Player Card. The ‘GE Lion’ has now been transformed into a visceral, sublime and surreal form of clothing piece in the three GE colours, reflecting the artist’s signature style. Furthermore, the jersey is representative of the team reinventing their gameplay as well as their ethos, vision and victory.
Commenting on the collaboration, Santanu Hazarika said, “I have always been inspired by gaming as an artist since I was a child. And I am a gamer myself! I instantly connected with the GE team as we both have a common ground when it comes to pop culture and gaming. They enabled me to explore a whole new world of how big esports is, which helped me incorporate elements of gaming, fashion and art together for a jersey different from anything else the esports world has ever seen.”
The specially created jersey is a testimony to GE’s commitment to pushing the envelope across diverse aspects of gaming and building an enduring esports legacy on the world stage. The limited edition jerseys are priced at Rs 1299/- and are available for purchase at https://gefighting.com/.
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.
