Crypto Consultant
SuperGaming appoints crypto specialist Siddarth Menon as blockchain advisor
Will help the company build its crypto platform and design in-game economies
Maskgun Millions
MaskGun surpasses 60 million downloads in three years
Gets biggest update yet
Another One
Nukebox Studios launches blockchain branch
Looking to invest in new evergreen franchises
Adding Adtech
Nazara acquires majority stake adtech firm Datawrkz
An initial 33%, with the option to acquire a further 22% by Q4 2023
Competition Collaborators
Hashcube partners with wagering platform Pllay to integrate esports competitions
Provides access to over 20 million casual mobile gamers
Indian Innovation
Zupee partners with Jio Platforms, raises $102 million
Now with the largest reach of any India-based games company
Antitrust Antics
Apple requests dismissal of antitrust case in India
Firm claims it constitutes an "insignificant" portion of market
Increasing Indian Operations
UK hypercasual firm Kwalee expands Bangalore operations
Follows recent expansion of Leamington Spa HQ
Fantastic Fifth
20% of global game downloads come from India
Battlegrounds Mobile India soars to success during Q3 2021
Usa Expansion
MPL appoints Xbox and Twitch veteran Matt McCloskey as GM of North America
Will oversee platform's growth in US
Positive Signs
Nazara reports H1 2021 revenue growth of 30%, reaching $35 million
EBITDA increased by 700%
Growth Initiative
Nazara raises $42 million to fund growth initiatives and acquisitions
Will issue 1,429,266 equity shares
Unicorn Startup
Indian mobile esports outfit MPL raises $150 million on a $2.3 billion valuation
Reached over 85 million users worldwide
Midcore Makers
Studio Sirah raises $830,000 for India-first midcore mobile games
Now developing Kurukshetra: Ascension
Leading The Way
Indian midcore dev SuperGaming raises $5.5 million Series A funding
Well-positioned to capture growth in India and globally
Three Months
PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire set to receive ban in Bangladesh
TikTok also part of High Court ruling
Like A Dream
Dream Sports acquires Indian mobile developer Rolocule Games
"This is a well-deserved validation for mid-core games in India..."
25% Rise
Over 800 mobile games make more than $1 million every month
Data was confirmed by App Annie as part of its "2021 Mobile Gaming Tear Down"
Hiring Now
10 games industry jobs to apply for this week
Job vacancies from Epic Games, Respawn Entertainment, Alpha Dog Games and Riot Games
Open Doors
CrazyLabs acquires Firescore Interactive to boost Indian hypercasual ecosystem
The companies launched a new hub together in July
India Rising
Indian social mobile gaming platform Eloelo raises $2.1 million
The platform has one million users with over 50 per cent female
It’s A Battleground
Battlegrounds Mobile India fires to 34 million users and 16 million DAUs
The title is exclusively available in India via the Google Play store
Anticipation
Update: PUBG: New State has broken 20 million global pre-registrations
Gearing up for 2021 launch
Triple Word Score
MTG acquires Indian word game studio PlaySimple for $360 million
There's also a $150 million earn-out
Boom Times
Indian esports app Loco raises $9 million via seed round
Krafton leads the investment
Flying Solo
How Portal, Little Nightmares and Limbo inspired Nakul Verma
The Playbae founder won The Big Indie Pitch with In My Shadow
Expansion
Nazara buys a majority stake in MENA publisher Publishme
Spends $3 million for a 70% stake
Backlash
Indian politician calls for Battlegrounds Mobile India ban
Union Minister Ninong Ering is not happy
Watching
Twitch mobile app hits 22 million installs in Q1 2021, up 62%
81 million total installs made in 2021
One Game One Country
Krafton announces Battlegrounds Mobile India
New version following original's ban
More Jobs
Kwalee plans to invest $30 million into India over the next five years
Hypercasual co continues to grow
High Octane Action
Apex Legends Mobile soft launch now live - first images and gameplay surface
Testing in India and Philippines
Learning Fast
Nazara Technologies revenue jumps 84% in FY21 to $61 million
Indian tech giant continues growth
Apex Predator
Apex Legends Mobile entering soft launch in India and the Philippines on Android
Won't include cross-play
Get Connected
Kwalee to host 16 April event to connect with Indian developers
Offering one-to-one mentorship
Getting Competitive
Krafton backs Indian esports firm Nodwin Gaming with $22.4 million
"Krafton is excited to partner with Nodwin Gaming to help foster the promising esports ecosystem"
Show Me The Money
Lumikai leads $1.5 million investment in All-Star Games
The Indian studio specialises in Cricket mobile games
Poc In Mobile
LEGO's Ankur Suri explains the difficulties with visas if you live in a developing country
"It was easier to offer someone with less experience that was based locally"
For Freedom
Bollywood star Akshay Kumar teams with nCore for new mobile game
"Join a special unit of FAU-G commandos on patrol in dangerous border territory"
Pgc Digital
PGC Digital: India overtakes US to become second-biggest game download market globally
Only China sees higher downloads worldwide
It's War
PUBG Corp is bringing PUBG Mobile back to India
Changes have been made to create PUBG Mobile India
This Week In Asia
This Week in Asia: G-STAR unveils 2020 speaker line-up, Honor of Kings hits 100m DAU, and PUBG pulled in India
Our roundup of top stories from the region
Outta Here
Tencent pulls PUBG Mobile from India after government ban
"We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG Mobile in India"
Delayed Change
Google delays Play Store changes in India to 2022
"We are setting up listening sessions with leading Indian startups to understand their concerns more deeply"
Still Banned
India's government not likely to bring back PUBG Mobile
"The violent nature of the game has been the cause of many complaints from all quarters"
Battle On
PUBG Corp cuts Indian publishing partnership with Tencent
"PUBG Corporation fully understands and respects the measures taken by the government as the privacy and security of player data is a top priority for the company"
Master The Meta
Master the Meta: India bans PUBG Mobile & 117 other apps - what will happen next?
News and insights from the Master the Meta team
Funding
Indian games platform Winzo secures $18 million in Series B funding
"Winzo is at the heart of India's gaming evolution"
Banned
PUBG Mobile gets hit with a ban in India
One of 118 Chinese apps to be booted from the country
To Battle!
Report: India to ban PUBG Mobile as part of crackdown on Chinese apps
Region generates around $3 million in revenue for the game