Gaming
Indiagames to create mobile content for Godzilla
MUMBAI: Mobile entertainment developer Indiagames has entered into an agreement with Toho Co., Ltd. to bring wireless content based on “Godzilla,” now celebrating over 50 years of life since 1954.
Founded in 1932, Toho Co. Ltd. is one of the leading entertainment conglomerates in Japan. Toho is best known worldwide as the producer of numerous Godzilla motion pictures and classic films directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Godzilla is the brightest dream and at the same time is the most horrific nightmare of the Japanese cinema. The wireless content, which will be available beginning November 2005, includes two mobile games, wallpapers, screensavers, ring tones, voice ringers, and alerts. The wireless games (both casual and fighting) will include various Toho monster characters (such as Mothra, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, Gigan, etc.), states an official release.
Indiagames CEO Vishal Gondal says: “The Godzilla property has been very popular throughout the world for over 50 years and has been successfully translated into Movies, T.V., games, toys, video games and other merchandise. Indiagames is pleased to be associated with this mega property for mobile phones and thinks it is one of the best properties that Indiagames can leverage across its global distribution network.”
“We’re excited to see this deal bring all the fun of Godzilla to mobile phones around the world outside of Japan,” adds Shozo Watanabe, general manager of Toho’s Los Angeles office.
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.
