Gaming
Level up: Banijay Asia and Nodwin Gaming partner to power up India’s youthverse
MUMBAI: In a match made in gamer heaven, Banijay Asia and Nodwin Gaming have teamed up to turbocharge India’s youth entertainment and gaming landscape. The two powerhouses have inked a strategic partnership that will see Banijay Asia take the reins of Playground — Nodwin’s flagship gaming reality show — and co-create a slew of fresh, disruptive content across gaming, esports, and influencer-led formats.
With gaming now a full-blown lifestyle, this collaboration aims to tap into India’s ever-evolving Gen Z mindspace by fusing Banijay’s storytelling muscle with Nodwin’s pulse on the gaming community. And they’re not stopping at one franchise — the duo plans to unleash an entire ecosystem of new scripted and reality IPs.
“This collaboration with Nodwin Gaming is an exciting extension of our vision to create content that resonates with evolving youth audiences. Gaming is not just a sport; it’s a culture, a lifestyle, and a massive content opportunity. With Playground and our upcoming IPs, we aim to redefine engagement and storytelling in this space. I look forward to the creative collaboration with Akshat Rathee, and Joost Roset who we previously worked with, in bringing iconic global IPs to India. This is an invaluable opportunity to create clutter-breaking formats in the youth and gaming space,” said Banijay Asia & Endemol Shine India founder & group CEO Deepak Dhar.
Nodwin Gaming co-founder & managing director Akshat Rathee added, “”Youth entertainment is evolving rapidly, and our partnership with Banijay Asia positions us perfectly to lead that change. With Playground, we’ve just begun to explore what’s possible. Backed by Banijay’s global expertise, we’re now set to scale the IP across multiple languages and markets, with the ambition of building an international format. At the heart of our approach is our philosophy of ‘timeshare of mindshare.’ We’re not just creating content, we’re creating cultural moments. This is just the beginning of a bold new chapter in gaming and youth content.”
The Rusk Media creative team — original minds behind Playground — will stay involved as the format evolves from a single show into an annual line-up of five to 10 marquee IPs. Expect more drama, more battles, and more screen time as the series expands.
Backed by its success with Comic Con India, BGMI Masters Series, and NH7 Weekender, Nodwin Gaming is already a big player in the youth space. Now with Banijay — whose global playbook includes brands like MasterChef, Peaky Blinders, and Black Mirror — the stage is set for a full-blown format revolution in Indian gaming content.
From stream to scream, it’s into the playground for the two. At least for now!
(Deepak Dhar – left – and Akshat Rathee -right- pictured above. source: Banijay Asia)
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.
