Gaming
Skyesports Masters: Karma and Mortal set for electrifying live music and gaming fusion
Mumbai: Rap sensation Karma, known for songs like Young Galeech and How To Tame Your Beast, has teamed up with popular content creator Naman “Mortal” Mathur to bring an electrifying live music performance at the Skyesports Masters in the Koramangala Indoor Stadium, Bangalore. Taking place on 26 and 27 Aug., the Skyesports Masters is India’s first franchised esports league with an Rs two crore prize pool.
Karma is set to captivate the crowd at India’s biggest gaming tournament with a performance consisting of some of his most popular hits.
Speaking about the live performance, Karma (real name Vivek Arora), said, “I couldn’t be more excited to perform at India’s biggest gaming tournament, the Skyesports Masters. The gaming
community of the country is one I have been deeply connected with and I am looking forward to doing that again at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bangalore along with Mortal.”
Mortal and Karma will also be teaming up at the event to bring a live performance of the duo’s hit single, ‘The Game is On.’ This will be Mortal’s first live music performance as the legendary gamer hones a new persona for an enthralling live show in Bangalore. “Come watch me perform The Game Is On alongside Karma at the Skyesports Masters! I am looking forward to my first live performance and I am thrilled to see it happening at the historical finale of India’s first-ever franchised esports league,” the popular creator, who boasts more than seven million YouTube subscribers, said.
Fans can attend the event for some nail-biting esports action and an unforgettable music performance for free by signing up through PayTM Insider.
The Skyesports Masters Finale at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bangalore will feature the top four teams of the League Stage competing for the title of inaugural champions. Marcos Gaming, Gods Reign, Revenant Esports, and 7Sea Esports will not only be competing for CS:GO glory but also for the lion’s share of the Rs two crore prize pool. For the fans who are unable to attend the event in Bangalore, they can catch all the exhilarating action live on Loco.
Besides the esports action and musical performance, the Skyesports Masters is set to feature a cosplay competition, creator showdowns, and meet-and-greets. Some of the country’s biggest gamers will be attending the event including Scout, Xyaa, Rakazone, Tonde, and more.
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.
