Category: Gaming

Saudi Arabia to host first ever Olympic Esports Games in 2025

Indian esports industry stands to gain significantly from this development. Following a bronze medal win in DOTA 2 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and competing in five titles at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Last year, Saudi Arabia launched an annual Esports World Cup, with the first edition currently taking place in Riyadh from July 3 to August 25.

Cricket will inevitably get involved in esports in some form: Nodwin Gaming’s Akshat Rathee

In the third quarter of FY2025 alone, it reported ₹165 crore in revenue—a 23% year-on-year increase—driven by the success of flagship properties like Playground, the Snapdragon Pro Series, and the combined DreamHack and Comic Con event.

Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming discusses the vision for NODWIN’s global expansion and the unique challenges and opportunities presented by different markets, mainstream adoption of gaming and its impact on the industry.

How gaming has expanded beyond modes of entertainment

Telangana could be the first state in India to introduce comprehensive esports policies.

This month marked National Video Game Day and so Siddharth Nayyar, co-founder and CRO, Max Level, reflected on how video games provide with a medium to express creativity and sometimes to build social connections.

Published
Categorized as Gaming Tagged

Indian gaming industry awaits tax exemptions, SEZ in upcoming budget

The Union Budget 2025 are set to make a range of products more affordable, benefiting both industries and consumers across various sectors.

Recently, a consortium of 70 Indian gaming companies wrote to the PMO and I&B Ministry suggesting a reduction of GST on video games to a 12 percent bracket to promote sustainability and better cash flow for game companies, as well as exemptions on import/customs duties, IGST, and any cess for proprietary hardware development kits used for testing and developing video games.

Cheating scandal hits Philips OneBlade BGMI Cup, Nodwin bans three teams

Recently, Nodwin Gaming disqualified and banned three teams from the Philips OneBlade Battleground Mobile India Cup 2024 for cheating by using unauthorized and unethical methods during the official esports tournament.

CS Esports, Falcon Esports, and RK Esports were banned for using third-party software in their initial five matches. Interestingly, they were among the top four teams in the overall standings after Day 1.

Published
Categorized as Gaming Tagged

Indian esports ecosystem slows down. Who is to blame?

The survey highlights a shift beyond metro cities, with Tier-2 cities like Ahmedabad, Kochi, Surat, and Rajkot becoming new hubs for game development due to cost efficiency and growing talent pools.

In India, the esports ecosystem revolves around two major game titles, Krafton’s Battleground Mobile India (BGMI) and Riot Games’ first-person shooter (FPS) game Valorant. Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 has yet to make a significant impact.

Indian gaming consortium writes to PMO, I&B Ministry seeking tax relief and clear classification

The representation letter to the Prime Minister’s Office and to the office of the Minister of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) was signed by 70 companies from the Indian video games and esports industry.

The consortium has made 10 suggestions to the newly formed government which includes reducing the GST on video games to a 12% bracket to promote sustainability and better cash flow for game companies, exempt import/customs duties, IGST, and any cess for proprietary hardware development kits used for testing and developing video games.