Nazara Technologies

Nazara Technologies is an Indian technology holding company that has business interests in mobile games, esports and sports media. It is based in Mumbai.

History
Nazara Technologies was founded by Nitish Mittersain in 1999 as an online gaming portal. In 2002, it switched to providing mobile entertainment VAS for telecom operators, including WAP content downloads of comic strips and mobile games. Early likeness rights partnerships to deliver mobile content included those with Archie Comics, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Cartoon Network.

Nazara later expanded mobile games VAS into the Middle East and Africa, also becoming the licensed distributor of EA Mobile's games in these regions apart from South Asian countries.

In 2015, Nazara obtained the license from Green Gold Animations to create mobile games based on Chhota Bheem animated television series. In 2016, Nazara tied up with Indian comics company Amar Chitra Katha to develop mobile games on Tinkle characters like Shikari Shambu.

In 2018, Nazara acquired a majority stake in Nextwave Multimedia, a Chennai-based mobile game developer known for World Cricket Championship titles. It also acquired 55% stake in esports firm Nodwin Gaming. Nazara was planning to go public in 2018 and had obtained approval from the market regulators, but halted the process.

In 2019, Nazara Technologies purchased a 67% stake in Sportskeeda for ₹44 crore. It acquired a 51% stake in Paper Boat Apps, the developer and publisher of gamified early learning app Kiddopia, for ₹83.5 crore in the same year.

In March 2021, Nazara was listed on the NSE and BSE after its initial public offering. Later the same year, it acquired the Hyderabad-based real-money gaming company OpenPlay for ₹186 crore.

In 2022, Nazara acquired a 55% stake in Datawrkz, an advertising technology company based in Bangalore, for ₹124 crore. Later that year, it bought out the US-based kids gaming company WildWorks for $10.4 million.

In 2023, Nazara Technologies joined the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) as a principal member. In 2024, Nazara acquired Comic Con India for ₹55 crore through its subsidiary Nodwin Gaming.

Games

 * World Cricket Championship
 * Kiddopia
 * Animal Jam
 * Motu Patlu Run

Subsidiaries
Notable subsidiaries include:


 * Nextwave Multimedia in cricket simulation games
 * Kiddopia in gamified early learning
 * WildWorks in kids gaming
 * Nodwin Gaming in eSports
 * Halaplay and Openplay in skill-based games
 * Datawrkz in digital ad tech
 * Sportskeeda in eSports media

Sportskeeda


Sportskeeda is a global sports and esports media subsidiary of Nazara Technologies headquartered in Bangalore, India. It features, news, articles and live coverage of sports such as cricket, association football, American football, basketball, mixed martial arts, and professional wrestling.

In 2009, the company was founded by Porush Jain. After a few months, the company raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors. In 2011, an early stage venture capital funding company Seedfund invested ₹2.8 crore.

In 2019, Nazara Technologies acquired a 67% stake in Sportskeeda for ₹44 crore, valuing Sportskeeda at ₹65 crore. In 2020, during COVID-19 pandemic, the company launched two video series Freehit and SKlive, featuring interviews with prominent sportspeople.

In May 2022, Nazara set up its subsidiary Sportskeeda Inc. in Delaware, US. In November 2022, Porush Jain resigned as CEO and Ajay Pratap Singh was promoted as the chief executive officer.

In 2023, Sportskeeda acquired 73.27% stake in Pro Football Network LLC, a US-based sports analysis website that covers National Football League (NFL) and college football, for ₹16 crore (US$1.82 million).