India has emerged as a huge gaming market in the world. With an array of options at their disposal, Indian gamers are taking a keen interest in exploring the new way of playing games. With the evolving times of technology, several start-ups are trying their hands on this growing market sector.
Here are some of the top online gaming start-ups of India which have kept the gamers hooked:
Nazara Technologies
Founded in 1999 by Nitish Mittersain, Nazara Technologies started as an online gaming portal. The company later switched to providing mobile entertainment VAS. It created mobile games based on cartoon characters like Chota Bheem and Shikari Sambhu.
Nazara acquired a majority stake in Nextwave Multimedia, which developed the World Cricket Championship, in 2018. Later, it also purchased stakes in companies like Nodwin Gaming, Sportskeeda, Paper Boat Apps, Kiddopia and many more.
Its most popular games are World Cricket Championship, Kiddopia, Animal Jam and Motu Patlu Run.
WinZO
The Delhi based company was founded in 2018 and has 175 million users in India. It has collaborated with CleverTap to excel in the online gaming platform. The company posted an operating profit of ₹120 crore in FY23.
Founded by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, the platform boasts of 30% of India's online gamers after partnering with more than 100 game developers.
WinZO has so far raised $100 million from investors including Kalaari Capital, Griffin Gaming Partners, Maker’s Fund, Courtside Ventures and Pags Group. In 2024, it expanded its reach to Brazil with an investment of $25 million.
Games24x7
Bhavin Pandya and Trivikraman Thampy founded Games24x7founded in 2006. Some of the prominent games it has to its credit are RummyCircle and My11Circle.
The company launched RummyCircle,in 2009. It is an online real money gaming platform for playing the traditional Indian card game rummy. It boasts of another card game, the Ultimate Teen Patti, which became the highest-grossing Teen Patti app on the Google Play Store. Games24x7 also invests in free-to-play games.
The company became more popular with My11Circle, a fantasy sports portal which started with cricket and later extended to football and kabaddi.
Games24x7 raised $75 million in 2022 to become a Unicorn.
The scope of online gaming platforms are vast in India with its market worth reaching INR16,428 crore ($19.66 billion) in FY 23. People of all walks of life try their shot at it. Apart from the sports related or character-based online games, gamers also have gathered interest in games like casino days, widening their attention in the online gaming world. One can access the experience through Casino days india login.
MPL
Mobile Premier League started out by offering puzzle games and casual games. It later expanded to fantasy sports. The company bought over GamingMonk, an esports community platform to have a firm hold in the online gaming sector.
Sai Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra in 2018, the online gaming platform currently offers 60 games in categories such as fantasy sports, sports games, puzzle, casual and board games. Some of its popular games are Opinio, Rummy and Win Patti.
MPL posted a revenue of $104.63 million and net income of $37 million (FY23).
Hike
Kavin Bharti Mittal-founded Hike owns the trendy Rush Gaming Universe. It is a mobile-only blockchain gaming platform where players can use their skills to play, compete & win.
Founded in 2012, the company grew nearly eight times in FY23.
Hike’s revenue from operations hiked to $1.79 billion during the fiscal year ending March 2023 with contrast to $ 2.29 million in FY22.
