Esports to Become the Largest Segment in Nazara Technologies’ Portfolio

Nazara Technologies, a gaming company, is bullish on the esports market and believes it will continue to grow in the second half of the fiscal year. Esports accounts for 40% of Nazara Technologies' entire business and has seen a 62 percent increase in revenue in the first half of FY22.

Nazara’s Esports Segment

This segment's income also surpassed that of gamified early learning, their greatest contributor, which contributed 41 percent and increased at a 35 percent rate over the same time.

In the second half, esports are likely to be a larger sector than gamified. In addition, acquisitions such as OML and Publishme have occurred, which will accelerate the expansion of this market. According to Manish Agarwal, CEO of Nazara Technologies, esports will become the largest market in their portfolio.

In the first half of fiscal year 22 (H1 FY22), Nazara's subsidiary Nodwin Gaming reported a 30% growth in revenue in the esports area. Nodwin has bought the gaming and related IP (intellectual property) business of OML Entertainment, a media and entertainment firm, making new strides. According to Agarwal, this will only help the esports industry.

Acquisition of OML

The acquisition of OML Entertainment is a significant move because the firm is well-known for managing some of India's most prominent gaming and entertainment producers, such as Tanmay Bhat, Samay Raina, and Suhani Shah.

Aside from that, they possess IPs such as the BACARD NH7 Weekender, comedic touring properties such as LOLstars and Headliners, and a hiphop league known as Breezer Vivid Shuffle.

Nodwin intends to build multiple esports IPs with the assistance of OML in order to help evangelise the esports industry.

Esports Statistics & Figures

Over the last year, the esports industry has grown at a breakneck pace. According to an EY assessment on esports in India for 2021, the country's esports market would have 1.5 million participants, 85 million viewers, and more than 20 broadcasters by FY25. Overall, the esports sector is predicted to more than double to Rs 1,100 crore by FY25, up from Rs 250 crore in FY21, according to the research.

According to another estimate by Redseer, esports and streaming would increase at a pace of 40% in India over the next five years. Esports now has 17 million viewers in India across numerous streaming platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and other OTT platforms, with a target audience of 25 million by FY22.

The Hindi-language broadcast of the PUBG Mobile World League East 2020 made a record with 449 thousand peak viewers, the largest viewership in an esports competition to date. Streaming platforms, not simply players, are projected to take the lion's share of esport profits as the area rises in popularity among youth. An audience of that size is certain to draw advertising and companies looking to capitalise on the popularity.

Karnataka Police Amendment Bill and its implications

Concerns have been raised about Karnataka's prohibition on internet gaming since the State Assembly enacted the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which prohibits online gambling and betting. According to Lokesh Suji, Director of the Esports Federation of India and Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF), while the legislation is clear, individuals are reading it incorrectly, which is the difficulty the esports business is experiencing.

Karnataka prohibits any type of wagering, betting, or gambling, as well as playing fantasy, Teen Patti, rummy, or poker. Because it is both online and offline, internet gaming is not an esport. As a result, it is not to be mistaken with online gaming. He highlighted that these rules do not apply to esports.

Suji emphasised how esports differs from online gaming by stating that most esports game creators do not allow anyone to charge any form of entry/registration fee for any competitions.

As all esports platforms currently follow such criteria, there should be no impact on the esports platforms. Suji stated that because esports is a sport and should be treated as such, there should be no concern for Karnataka's esports community.

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