Indian tech giant Nazara Technologies has reported an 84 percent jump in its consolidated revenue year on year, from INR 247.5 crore in the financial year 2020 to INR 454.2 crore (unaudited) in the financial year 2021.
Real money gaming plays role in Nazara growth
The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed mobile gaming company registered growth in all of its segments— most notably the gamified learning segment, which grew 820 percent in revenue from INR 19.1 crore in FY20 to INR 175.8 crore in FY21. Esports, meanwhile, reached INR 170.1 crore in FY21—up 102 percent from the INR 84.2 crore recorded in the previous financial year.
“Gamified learning and esports segments have not only demonstrated strong growth momentum in FY21 but have also laid the foundation for predictable growth on account of proven user engagement and retention KPIs in gamified learning and multiyear media licensing and game publisher agreements in case of esports,” Nazara said in its regulatory filing with the BSE.
Another segment also contributed to Nazara’s growth: Real money gaming category grew 67 percent from INR 42.6 crore in FY20 to INR 13.9 crore in FY21. Nazara’s other segments—freemium and telco subscription—stood at INR 19.5 crore and INR 74.9 crore, respectively in the financial year 2021.
Online gaming popularity grows in India
Nazara, known for its array of much-loved mobile games including World Cricket Championship 3, is confident that it will continue to drive profitable growth.
And that’s not surprising, especially in a mobile-friendly market like India. As ENV Media research has pointed out, the Indian gaming market is largely mobile-first, and it’s amplified by the mass availability of low-cost mobile phones and high-speed internet penetration along with affordable data plans. This has pushed the country to the number one spot in terms of mobile game downloads worldwide with 7.3 billion installs—or 17 percent market share of installed volume, according to data from SensorTower.
In addition, Nazara is embracing the popularity of real-time games and keeping in mind the live developments taking place at many online casinos and other casual entertainment games such as real money blackjack at 7Jackpots or the gambling website PureWin for its own products offerings.
The tech giant, which has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) early this year, is also building a network in the interactive gaming and sports space via investments and acquisitions across segments like esports, edutainment, infotainment, fantasy sports, and multiplayer games, among others. Recently, Nazara announced that it is executing a Share Subscription Agreement to hold 64.70 percent of Halaplay Technologies. The company has also entered into a share purchase agreement with Sankalp Sharma and Absolute Sports Pvt Ltd to acquire 1.40 percent additional stake for INR 96.16 lakh in Absolute Sports.
“As Nazara is operating high growth business segments such as gaming, gamified learning and esports, we will continue to drive profitable growth while prioritizing growth over profit maximization at this stage so that we can achieve and maintain market leadership in the segments we operate in,” according to the company.