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Nazara Navigates Turbulent Waters Amid India's Gaming Crackdown
28 Aug
Summary
- Nazara's core business unaffected by India's new online gaming law
- Esports and adtech divisions driving growth, offsetting real-money gaming risks
- Nazara plans to raise capital for Nodwin Gaming's global expansion
As of 2025-08-28, India's new Online Gaming Act has caused significant disruption in the gaming industry. While real-money gaming platforms have been hit the hardest, with several listed companies seeing their stocks tumble, Nazara Technologies, a global gaming company, has managed to weather the storm.
Nazara's core business does not rely on real-money gaming, and the company only has an indirect link through its investment in Moonshine Tech, the parent company of Pokerbaazi. The market fears Nazara may have to write off this investment due to the new law, but the company's diversified revenue streams and global presence have shielded it from deeper structural risks.
Nazara's growth strategy has focused on acquisitions, allowing it to build a broad portfolio of games spanning esports, adtech, freemium, offline, and PC/console publishing. This diversity has reduced the company's dependence on any single revenue stream, making the business more resilient to shifting market trends.
Esports, through subsidiaries Nodwin Gaming and Sportskeeda, has been a primary focus for Nazara. Nodwin, which organizes tournaments and manages gaming events, has seen its revenue increase by 49% year-on-year in Q1 FY26, driven by popular IPs like PUBG and Valorant. Nazara plans to raise fresh capital from existing shareholders to fund Nodwin's next phase of global expansion.
Nazara's adtech division, Datawrkz, has also reported explosive growth, with revenue jumping 313% year-on-year in Q1 FY26, led by the consolidation of Space & Time. The company's freemium segment, which includes the acquisition of Fusebox, an interactive storytelling platform, has also seen sharp revenue growth of over 1,300%.
Despite the challenges posed by the new gaming law, Nazara remains optimistic about its future. The company aims to double its EBITDA to ₹300 crore by FY27 and believes it is on track to achieve or surpass this goal, even with the potential write-off of its Moonshine investment.
