Gaming
Nazara goes full throttle, bags Curve Games in Rs 247 crore console conquest
MUMBAI: Nazara Technologies has fired its latest acquisition shot — and this time, it’s hit the UK. The homegrown gaming giant has snapped up 100 per cent of Curve Games, a renowned UK-based publisher of PC and console titles, in a Rs 247 crore (GBP 21.7 million) all-cash deal.
The move turbocharges Nazara’s foray into the $100 billion global PC and console market, unlocking fresh access to new platforms, geographies, and genres. Curve, best known for indie blockbusters like Human Fall Flat, Bomber Crew, and The Ascent, has racked up more than 100 million downloads globally — and a tidy revenue of Rs 263.5 crore in calendar 2024.
“This acquisition strengthens our ability to work with developers globally — and over time, also creates a pathway for Indian game developers to bring their games to global audiences across PC and console platforms. It aligns with our broader vision to contribute to India’s growing role in the global gaming ecosystem, echoing the emphasis from India’s leadership on making the country a hub for digital and creative industries.,” said Nazara chief executive Nitish Mittersain.
Curve posted an EBITDA of Rs 114.4 crore and a PBT of Rs 49.6 crore last year, making it a lucrative addition to Nazara’s already eclectic portfolio, which includes Kiddopia, Animal Jam, Sportskeeda, and World Cricket Championship.
Curve’s executive chairman Stuart Dinsey was equally upbeat: “”Joining the Nazara family is an exciting new chapter for Curve. Nazara’s ecosystem, access to emerging markets and long-term orientation make them a strong strategic partner. We are aligned in our vision of building a leading global indie publishing platform, and we look forward to the next phase of growth together.”
For Nazara, this isn’t just another acquisition — it’s a checkpoint cleared in its quest to become a truly global gaming force, one IP at a time. Game on.
Gaming
India’s broadcasters say no to Fifa World Cup 2026
Fifa has slashed its asking price by 65 per cent but India’s broadcasters are still not buying
MUMBAI: The world’s biggest sporting event cannot find a single taker in the world’s most sports-mad nation. Fifa’s television rights for the 2026 World Cup remain unsold in India, and the clock is ticking loudly.
To shift the property, world football’s governing body has already swallowed hard and cut its asking price from $100m to $35m, bundling in the 2030 edition as a sweetener. It has not worked. Indian broadcasters have looked at the offer, done the sums and quietly walked away.
The reasons are brutally simple. The 2026 tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, kicks off in a time zone that turns India’s primetime into a graveyard shift. Most matches will air between midnight and 7am IST, a scheduling catastrophe for advertisers chasing mass reach. The 2022 Qatar edition was a gift by comparison, with matches dropping neatly into Indian evenings. North America offers no such luxury.
The market itself has also changed beyond recognition. The merger of Star India and Viacom18 into JioStar has gutted the competitive tension that once sent sports rights prices soaring. Where rival bidders once slugged it out, there is now a single dominant buyer, and it is in no hurry. JioStar has valued the rights at roughly $25m, a full $10m below Fifa’s already-discounted floor price. That gap has so far proved unbridgeable.
Broadcasters are also nursing a ferocious cricket hangover. Between 2022 and 2023, Indian media houses committed well over $10bn to cricket rights alone, covering IPL, ICC events and BCCI domestic fixtures combined. After a binge of that scale, appetite for a football package that delivers a fraction of the ratings, in the dead of night, is close to zero.
The economics of football broadcasting make the maths even harder. Cricket, with its natural breaks every few overs, is an advertiser’s paradise. Football offers a 15-minute halftime and precious little else. Recovering a nine-figure rights fee from a single half-hour ad window is a stretch at the best of times. These are not the best of times: the Indian government’s tightening grip on real-money gaming and gambling advertising has vaporised a category that once underwrote the economics of big sporting events.
Nor is the World Cup an anomaly. Indian Super League valuations have cratered. English Premier League rights have softened across successive cycles. The cooling of football as a broadcast commodity in India is structural, not cyclical.
With the tournament opening on 11th June, Fifa is running out of road. It may yet blink and meet JioStar at $25m. Or it may go direct, streaming the entire tournament on its own platform, Fifa+, or cutting a digital deal with YouTube, and hoping that a generation of Indian football fans finds its way there without a broadcaster to guide them.
Either way, the beautiful game’s Indian chapter is looking decidedly ugly.
