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In what could be a historic move for the Indian esports scene, NODWIN Gaming has secured a Rs 164 crore investment from South Korean gaming powerhouse, Krafton. From infrastructural development to entering new markets, specifics of this deal could change the face of esports in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Often labelled as one of the most efficient esports production companies in the world, NODWIN Gaming has pioneered the growth of esports culture in India. From historic firsts such as bringing ESL and Dreamhack to India to hosting multiple editions of PMCO, PMIS and PMPL, NODWIN has played a crucial role in popularising esports across the country.
NODWIN Gaming plans to channelize this influx of funds by providing better infrastructure, technology and organize a multitude of tournament IPs.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda Esports, Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming, spoke about the investment and future plans:
Excerpts:
Q. NODWIN has been conducting PMCO, PMPL, PMIS, and multiple properties for Krafton/Tencent for the past couple of years in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. How did this change in relationship from client to investor occur now?
A. Interestingly, Krafton was never a client of ours. Our relationship was predominantly with Tencent. We built the entire PUBG Mobile ecosystem with them in India. NODWIN Gaming has now started running the PUBG Mobile ecosystem outside of India too, including countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and also in Dubai. You’re currently seeing all the streams that are happening from PUBG Mobile South Asia. That is something we’ve been doing with Tencent very actively.
When you do good work, others start taking notice. While Tencent is the organization we were doing Esports with, the IP of PUBG Mobile is still with Krafton. Krafton found our work pretty interesting, and we had several conversations around PUBG PC and PUBG: New State. They also asked us about our plans for the rest of the world, including countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, the Middle East, and South Asian Markets. Krafton told us that this was interesting enough for them to consider us a strong company in mobile esports. While we have ESLs and Dreamhacks that are doing excellent on PCs, we also have VSPN, which is a part of Tencent and currently doing very well in South East Asia and China. The question there was, “Can we have a position of excellence and dominance in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East?" And, of course, they liked the plan.
Q. In the press release, it was mentioned that the deal would involve the setting up of infrastructure and advancement of technology in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Could you give us some specifics on the kind of projects that are being formalized?
A. Technology spans multiple things for us, from studios where we might go ahead and invest in, or some technologies that we have been testing with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. There might also be anti-cheats that we are looking at, along with other systems, to prevent any kind of hacking in the region. So all the graphics that you see in PUBG Mobile, there is always someone who is building that data stack. We also believe that broadcast integration and broadcast level data can be manifested to find out why is someone better than you. Because there are people are sitting at home and saying I’m as good as this person, and you want to be able to say no this is better because this person reacts in 2 milliseconds, while you react in 1.2 milliseconds.
Q. Similar to India, South Asia, and the Middle East, NODWIN has taken the lead in South Africa in terms of introducing regular tournaments and scouting programmes. Could you tell us what your future in this market looks like right now? Are there plans to get the Middle East, North Africa and South Africa into one cluster?
A. I think it’s still in an experimental phase. Everything in esports either works or doesn’t work. It is nowhere close to the pure model that we believe will work in all markets. When we started in South Africa, which is the gateway to Africa, what we realized and found interesting is that a lot of people from Kenya and Nigeria are playing PUBG Mobile tournaments. The MENA stack is a commercial construct because of its market positioning and potential. However, we live in a digital world where there is lag and ping. South Africa is way bigger than what people assume it to be. We’ll look at each country and hence decide on the clusters if need be.
Q. The burning question - PUBG Mobile is still banned in India, and Krafton doesn’t have any plans of introducing PUBG: New State in the country, so PUBG Mobile India is still the focus. An Indian company now partnering with Krafton, will the players soon see the return of their beloved game in the country?
A. I’ve asked the same question. Unfortunately, we’re not the publishers and rather an Esports company. We hope that the Indian government and Krafton figure out a way to go and work together. When they decide on it, we are ready. I think India still loves the game enough, and there is an opportunity to eventually launch the game. But we’re just the Esports guys.
Q: Krafton is now focusing on how PUBG: New State can evolve, but if we look at the pre-registrations, they haven’t opened for India, Vietnam, and China. So how’s Krafton targeting the South Asian market if they do not include the three major countries?
A: We’re an esports company and can talk in only that respect. We have the same question, and we really care about the top 200 players that are playing the game. We’re esports media broadcasters and it is important for us to keep focusing on the multitude of games available.
Q. Over the past two years of working with Krafton, what is the biggest learning for NODWIN as a team? What are the knowledge sharing processes that you’ve learnt, and how are they different from your other clients like ESL, DreamHack?
A: Krafton is from South Korea, which is the home of gaming. They have been doing this for a long time. Just this understanding of how communities and games evolve over time is extremely important.
The other thing we realized is that we’re actually good. We know what to do, along with having self-belief. We understand global standards, communication and language frameworks, operations, and everything it takes to build a global level esports programme.
Q. NODWIN Gaming has slowly expanded into South Asia, India, the Middle East, North Africa (MENA), and South Africa. What are the different things that you learnt from different markets? Can you club them under one cluster?
A. Here is a hypothesis that we have. Any market that has a lot of 16-24-year-old youth can be a data native. Data prices need to be cheap, mobile phones need to be cheap, and there should be access to global content. Markets should also have a robust payment system. We found these types of markets to be very interesting. Every market behaves differently, and people will like different languages, games, genres, which is likely to change from place to place.
Q. Are there any particular games that Krafton wants to get into, apart from these markets and its own games? Is there a particular model they are targeting outside of their games as well?
A. This is more of a financial and strategic investment from them. We will be looking to explore different avenues together with Krafton, whether it is on games, communities, or technologies.
Q. Akshat, with what South Korea has done with its esports ecosystem, what are you looking forward to with this partnership and this South Korean gaming ecosystem influence?
A. South Korea is a comparatively smaller country, but it has gone ahead and made a very self-sustaining ecosystem on multiple terms. It has multiple TV channels that are dedicated to esports. It has got League of Legends, Overwatch and other games. Many games flourish in South Korea. There are many monetization models that you can look at, including tournaments, communities, and influencers. It’s all those things that we want to explore. Having at least 20 things in India that South Korea has tried will be a good thing.
Q. What is the impact that South Asia and India will have as a part of this deal?
A. We’ll have another portfolio for South Asia and Krafton’s other titles if they are deemed fit for esports in the future. We’ll go ahead and figure out some synergies with their existing products. If and when PUBG Mobile comes back to India along with PUBG: New State, we will go ahead and support them.
Q. NODWIN and Krafton, as individual companies, have always focussed on the betterment of esports, so what are the further plans of grassroots development of esports in India and South Asia?
A. The problem with just developing sporadic esports is that it is much more difficult. By the time you create academies, the game might just be dead. It’s an experimental answer since grassroots can be collegiate, academy, education, influencers, technologies, viewing platforms, or none of them. Krafton will just be our minority stakeholder. Our journey is still ours, and we’ll be the ones leading that.
Q. In November itself, Krafton had promised to further invest in India and develop the culture of esports in India. Is this investment a part of that particular plan?
A. I definitely imagine so! However, Krafton will be in a better position to answer that.
Q. You have an interesting talent search programme that you are doing in South Africa. Is this something that you’re planning to expand to other regions, or is it just an experiment?
A. It is definitely an experiment. We focus more on the methodology rather than the outcome. We’re not really bothered about the outcomes as long as we know the methodology is working.
Q. Are there any other emerging markets that you see have bigger potential?
A. Latin America. We also believe that the ex-CIS countries except Russia and Ukraine can emerge as potential markets for the future.
