Gaming
NODWIN, Exceed join forces for NH7 revival
NEW DELHI: Talk about turning up the volume. NH7 Weekender, India’s happiest music festival, has found a fresh rhythm as Nodwin Gaming announced a strategic partnership with Exceed Entertainment to supercharge its sponsorship and brand ecosystem.
Set to return with its signature mix of music, culture and youthful energy, the long-running multi genre festival is preparing for another blockbuster edition. For over 15 years, NH7 Weekender has been a cultural touchstone, shaping music discovery and youthful expression for audiences across the country.
Nodwin Gaming, which acquired NH7 Weekender and other intellectual properties from OML Entertainment in 2021, continues to lead programming, production, creative vision and the festival’s long-term growth. The new partnership assigns Exceed Entertainment a focused mandate, driving sponsorship monetisation, brand alliances and commercial expansion.
The collaboration blends Nodwin’s stronghold in large scale live IPs such as Comic Con India and DreamHack with Exceed’s deep network in celebrity management, influencer ecosystems and experiential brand partnerships. The result is a model designed to elevate sponsor-led activations, curated talent engagements and new revenue blueprints that fuse music, gaming and pop culture.
Nodwin Gaming co-founder and managing director Akshat Rathee said, NH7 Weekender’s spirit has always been rooted in culture, community and the joy of being together. He added that Exceed’s expertise will help unlock fresh brand collaborations while Nodwin continues shaping the festival experience fans hold dear.
Exceed Entertainment founder Afsar Zaidi said, the company aims to set the pace rather than follow trends. He described the partnership as an opportunity to reimagine monetisation for one of India’s most iconic live IPs, promising innovative brand integrations and new commercial pathways.
With both partners aligned on creativity, youth culture and brand-centric design, NH7 Weekender looks set to deliver an even more immersive edition, keeping its cultural legacy intact while expanding its commercial horizon.
Gaming
Dream Sports sees 100 plus exits after gaming ban forces overhaul
Company splits into eight units as real money gaming law hits revenue.
MUMBAI: For a company built on fantasy leagues, reality has suddenly rewritten the rulebook. More than 100 employees have exited Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, after the company reorganised its operations following India’s ban on real money online gaming. The shake up came after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force in August 2025, prohibiting games where users deposit money expecting winnings. The regulation struck at the heart of the fantasy gaming industry and dramatically affected Dream Sports’ core business, wiping out about 95 percent of its revenue and all of its profits.
In response, the Mumbai based company shifted into what chief executive officer Harsh Jain described as “startup mode”, splitting its operations into eight independent business units in December.
Around 700 employees were reassigned across these newly formed ventures based on their experience and interests. However, roughly 15 percent opted to leave the company.
A spokesperson for Dream Sports said many of those who exited were experienced professionals accustomed to running scaled businesses rather than early stage ventures.
“Since some of these employees were experienced with running high scale businesses and not startups, around 15 percent chose to leave and join other scaled companies or start ventures of their own,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the departures, the company noted that the attrition rate is only slightly higher than its earlier level of around 10 percent before the ban. Dream Sports now has close to 950 employees and is not currently hiring, choosing instead to focus on stabilising its existing workforce.
The restructuring has transformed Dream Sports from a fantasy gaming company into a broader sports entertainment platform. The eight units now operate independently, each focusing on different segments of the sports and technology ecosystem.
These include Dream11, sports streaming platform Fancode, sports travel service DreamSetGo, mobile game Dream Cricket and artificial intelligence initiative Dream Sports AI, which includes sports analytics platform Dream Play.
Other ventures include fintech product Dream Money, open source initiative Dream Horizon and the philanthropic arm Dream Sports Foundation.
As part of cost saving efforts, Dream Sports also relocated its headquarters from Bandra Kurla Complex to Worli earlier this year. The new office, called Dream Sports Stadium, brings teams from its various brands together under one roof to improve collaboration and operational efficiency.
Jain had earlier said the company removed bonus lock in timelines for employees hired in recent years, allowing those who wished to leave to exit with pro rata payouts.
“We want people who are fully into the startup mode and willing to work for it, and we will share that reward if it comes,” he said.
Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports was last valued at 8 billion dollars after raising 840 million dollars in 2021 from investors including Falcon Edge Capital, DST Global, D1 Capital Partners, RedBird Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, TPG and Footpath Ventures.
The new gaming law has forced several companies in the fantasy gaming sector to either shut down or pivot their business models, signalling a significant reset for one of India’s fastest growing digital entertainment industries.
