Gaming
Krafton plots India’s path to esports glory
MUMBAI: Indian esports just got its marching orders. Krafton India chief executive Sean Hyunil Sohn has rolled out an ambitious 2026 roadmap designed to transform bedroom gamers into international champions. Speaking before thousands at the BGMI International Cup 2025 in New Delhi, Sohn unveiled an expanded tournament calendar spanning multiple cities—and a new awards ceremony to boot.
The plan is deliciously simple: build a ladder. At the bottom sits BGMIS (Battlegrounds Mobile India Series), open to anyone with thumbs and ambition. Registrations open in late December 2025, with battles running January through March 2026. Survive that gauntlet and you graduate to BMPS (Pro Series) in May and June, where the winner bags a ticket to the Esports World Cup in Riyadh come July. Then comes BMSD (Showdown), a high-octane LAN slugfest running August to October. The cherry on top: BMIC (International Cup) in October, where India squares off against Korea and Japan on home turf.
“This is more than a tournament calendar—it’s a structured pathway for Indian gamers to rise from grassroots to the global podium,” Sohn declared. The company is putting its money where its mouth is. In 2025 alone, Krafton’s tournaments offered a collective prize pool exceeding Rs 4 crore.
The timing couldn’t be better. India’s esports scene has shed its scrappy underdog skin. Stadium-scale events now replace dingy internet cafés. Government recognition and corporate cash are flowing in. Krafton’s BGMI has racked up 240 million downloads, and the company has sunk over $200 million into Indian startups since 2021.
Krafton India associate director for esports Karan Pathak reckons the roadmap will democratise opportunity. “We want to give every player—from underdogs to champions—a platform to showcase their skill and represent India on the global stage,” he said.
Krafton is also launching the inaugural Krafton India Awards on 9 January 2026 in Mumbai, a new annual bash to recognise the country’s gaming talent.
The message is clear: India isn’t just playing anymore. It’s coming to win.
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.
