Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies’ IPO was eventually subscribed 167 times on its final day. It was subscribed 8.65 times by retail investors within the first three hours of the subscription window opening.
Interest in the shares of the company was strong even in the grey market as premiums climbed to nearly double the IPO price. It is India’s first full-fledged game developing company to be listed on the stock exchanges.
Money9 spoke to the top management team of Nazara Technologies to know about its plans and how it is looking to capitalise on the buzz in the sector.
Nazara’s Joint MD Nitish Mittersain believes that we are in the middle of the ‘Decade Of Gaming’ in India. With exponential growth in mobile and internet penetration coupled with the arrival of 5G, Nitish says this is the perfect time for the segment to embark to achieve exponential growth.
Speaking on the reasons that drew Jhunjhunwala to invest in the company, Nitish said profitability and capital efficiency were the main factors besides his belief in the Indian gaming growth story.
Nazara’s CEO Manish Agarwal says that its the 14-25 age group that will drive the growth of gaming in India. While the pandemic induced lockdowns did lead to a spike in gaming adoption across India, Manish says that the trends are global and secular and were in the making even before the pandemic struck.
He also says that the company has witnessed 8x growth in e-sports and 5x growth in gamified learning in the last few years, and has termed it as a ‘the golden decade’ that’s ahead for gaming in the country.
The company enjoys leadership in eSports with an 80% market share and cricket simulation games, where Nazara’s WCC is India’s most awarded mobile game. Nazara’s revenue grew at 20% CAGR during FY18-FY20, while in the nine month period ending December 2020, it achieved around 81% of its FY20 revenues.
Nitish said the pandemic has expanded the gaming demography in India and his 87-year-old grandmother too took up gaming during the lockdowns.
But the big question when it comes to the gaming business is monetisation. Nitish believes that these are early days and the future potential is limitless. He also believes the gaming segment has the potential to beat all other forms of entertainment in terms of revenues generation.
