Nazara Technologies

Nazara Technologies Limited is a gaming and sports media company that runs both in India and internationally. Its services include interactive learning, reporting, subscriptions, as well as a diverse range of games including those for children, skill-based games and sports simulations. It was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Mumbai.

It is India’s largest listed gaming company. The market capitalisation of Nazara Technologies Limited is over ₹6,300 crore as of January 30, 2024. Nazara share price has grown by over 50% in the last one year.

Business Operations

The company's revenue comes from various segments such as eSports, gaming and adtech divisions. In the eSports segment, Nazara owns Nodwin Gaming and Sportskeeda, contributing 49% of its revenue. In the gaming segment, which accounts for 37% of revenue, Nazara offers a range of experiences including gamified early learning, freemium models and skill-based games.

Notable brands include Kiddopia developed by WildWorks. Nazara also operates in the adtech space through its division Datawrkz, contributing 14% of its revenue. This segment uses data-driven strategies to enhance advertising across various platforms.

Nazara Technologies’ operations comprise the subscription business, freemium business and esports business. The subscription business is focused on mass mobile internet users in emerging markets, largely consisting of first-time mobile gamers. The sachet pricing strategy in the subscription business allows gamers to access the entire catalogue of over 1,000 Android games upon signing up for a daily, weekly, or monthly subscription. Billing for the subscription business is channelled through telecom operators.

As part of its in-house freemium business, the company understands local gamer behaviour in designing games, which is one of its key strengths. This is reflected in the popularity of some of the company's mobile games on the Google Play Store such as World Cricket Championship 2, Chhota Bheem Race and Motu Patlu Game. These games have consistently been part of the top three games on the top free charts on the Google Play Store, ahead of certain globally established names such as Candy Crush, Subway Surfer and Temple Run.

Nazara Technologies has markets across Africa and North America. It offers a diverse range of products and services such as World Cricket Championship (WCC) and CarromClash in mobile gaming, Kiddopia in gamified early learning, Nodwin, PublishMe and Sportskeeda in eSports and eSports media, OpenPlay, Halaplay and Qunami in skill-based, fantasy and trivia games, and Datawrkz in digital ad tech.

The company has established a wide distribution network with approximately 52 telecom operators in 58 countries, spanning regions such as Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

Nazara Technologies had its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in March 2021. Krafton, the intellectual property owner of PUBG, invested in Nodwin, a subsidiary of Nazara. GIC Singapore and other investors also made significant investments. Following the IPO, Nazara acquired the Middle Eastern game publisher Publishme along with the skill gaming platform, OpenPlay. It also acquired WildWorks to enhance its Gamified Early Learning division.

Financial highlights

– Nazara Technologies’ revenue from operations for FY23 stood at ₹1,091 crore, up 75.5% compared to ₹621.7 crore in FY22. – The company’s EBITDA for FY23 was reported at ₹109.7 crore as against ₹94.6 crore during the previous year. – The net profit after tax for FY23 was ₹61.4 crore compared to ₹50.7 crore during the previous year. – The company's earnings per share (EPS) stood at ₹6.29 in FY23 compared to ₹4.55 in the previous financial year.