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Nazara Technologies Ltd. – Business Update for the year ended on March 31, 2021

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In accordance with SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulation, 2015 and Code of Practices and Procedures for Fair Disclosure of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information in terms of Regulation 8 of SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, the Company would like to update on the following key business parameters on consolidated basis for the Year ended March 31, 2021

Business Overview:

Nazara is an India based, diversified gaming and sports media platform with presence in India and across emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America.

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As of March 31, 2021, Nazara has diverse business segments with revenue generation happening across gamified learning, Esports, freemium and telco subscription.

S. No. Business Segment Business Model Content IP Ownership IP Name % Revenue Contribution FY21
1 Early learning Gamified App for 2–6 year old kids with subscription paid by parents Yes Kiddopia 39%
2 Esports Premium exclusive content / (Media rights licensing) & brand sponsorships (ads shown on the platform) Yes Nodwin, Sportskeeda 37%
3 Freemium Ads & virtual items purchased within the games Yes WCC 4%
4 Telco Subscription Business Players subscribing to curated game packs and payment collected through telecom operator channel No 16%
5 Skill Based Real Money Gaming Platform fee collected from the skill games played on the platform Yes Halaplay, Qunami 4%

 

Income Statement Performance: Snapshot of FY21 over FY20

Key Highlight of FY21: Delivered 84% YoY revenue growth and 470% YoY EBITDA growth

Revenue Performance: Snapshot – FY21 when compared to FY20

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Nazara Technologies delivered consolidated revenue of 4,542 Mn INR (unaudited) in FY21 which is 84% growth over FY20 (2,475 Mn INR). Gamified learning and Esports segments have not only demonstrated strong growth momentum in FY21 but have also laid foundation for predictable growth on account of proven user engagement and retention KPIs in gamified learning and multiyear media licensing and game publisher agreements in case of Esports.

Segment wise revenue breakup is as follows:

Revenue INR Mn FY21

(unaudited)

FY20
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(audited)

% Growth
Gamified Learning 1,758 191* 820%
Esports 1,701 842* 102%
Freemium 195 198 (2%)
Telco Subscription 749 818 (8%)
Real Money Gaming 139 426 (67%)
Total Revenue 4,542 2,475 84%

*included from date of acquisition in the consolidated financial statement for FY20.

Consolidated EBITDA Performance: Snapshot – FY21 when compared to FY20

EBITDA including share of non-controlling interest for FY21 has witnessed 470% growth over FY20.

Particulars FY21
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(unaudited)

FY20

(audited)

EBITDA margin 12% 4%

 

As Nazara is operating in high growth business segments such as gaming, gamified learning and Esports, we will continue to drive profitable growth while prioritizing growth over profit maximization at this stage so that we can achieve and maintain market leadership in the segments we operate in.

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Segment wise commentary on business performance:

  1. Gamified Learning: Kiddopia had 340,282 paying subscribers as of March 2021 which is a 172% increase in number of paying subscribers as compared to March 2020 (197,522).

LTV (Lifetime Value) – CAC (Consumer Acquisition Cost) Parameters: Cost per trial has stayed range bound between 22 USD to 26 USD in last 12 months and activation ratio from free trial to subscription has also remained around 70%.  Monthly ARPU of the user has been around 6.3 – 6.4 USD and monthly churn is range bound between 4% – 6% across the months in FY21.

  1. Esports: Esports revenues comprise of media rights licensing of own content, brands sponsorships for offline and online events, licensing fee received from game publishers for community activation and programmatic inventory selling on Sportskeeda. Esports is disrupting traditional sports worldwide and is an outcome of sports and gaming intersecting to create fast paced spectator entertainment content.
  • Sportskeeda witnessed 487% growth in MAU in FY21. During peak cricket season (October 2020), Sportskeeda recorded 68.44 Mn MAU up from 10.53 Mn MAU in April 2020.Sportskeeda has emerged as a leading Esports news and content destination in India.
  • Nodwin continued revenue growth momentum with 75% growth in FY21 over FY20. Media rights contributed to majority of the revenues in FY21 and game publishers formed second largest source of revenue wherein Nodwin partnered with them for grass route community tournaments across India. Nodwin also expanded into South Asia in FY21. Nodwin continues to be the dominant player in Esports in India with its marquee IPs like ESL India premiership, Dew Arena etc.
  1. Free to Download (Freemium): WCC (World Cricket Championship) is the world’s largest cricket simulation game franchise on mobile and is played for ~46 minutes / day by over 15 Mn monthly active users. The Game has a very strong franchise among the midcore gamers who love virtual sports simulation genre and gets over 100,000 downloads every day organically and without any marketing spends. WCC revenues were flat in FY21 on account of drop in advertising rates in India due to COVID. We expect growth in WCC to come from in app purchases of virtual goods and WCC3 – the latest version of the game launched in July has been designed for enhancing in-app purchase conversion rates.
  • Scale of Daily Active Users (DAUs) of world cricket championship (WCC) is stable with few spikes seen during first phase of lockdown in April 20 and during IPL 20.
  • Tangible progress has been made on % conversion ratio (daily paying to daily active users (DPU/ DAU)) in FY21 via launch of WCC3. The % conversion in WCC3 has increased multi-fold to 0.08% – 0.10% as compared to 0.01% in WCC2. % Conversion in WCC3 is expected to increase further in FY22 through new product updates.

 

Once positive LTV/CAC equation is achieved, the company will invest aggressively in user acquisition to scale up its user base on WCC and drive profitable growth.

  1. Telecom operator driven Subscription business declined by 8% in FY21 over FY20 primarily due to decline in India revenues in H2FY21. Nazara has acquired rights to distribute a library of premium Disney and Star Wars games based on iconic stories and characters including Star Wars, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Cars, Duck Tales, Finding Dory, Toy Story and many others in 100 countries for three years. These premium games will be distributed through Nazara’s network of telecom operators to their customer base. Under this agreement with Disney, Nazara is the only third party distributor that Disney has granted the right to create and operate Disney themed storefronts for premium Disney and Star Wars games on these telco channels.
  1. Sports Fantasy (Real Money Skill Gaming): Sports fantasy witnessed disruption in FY21 on account of lack of live matches in first half of FY21 and regulatory turbulence triggered by legislative ordinances passed in few of the large states banning real money gaming operations. The lack of stability in the regulatory framework lead to Nazara taking strategically cautious approach in this vertical till further clarity emerges. We have therefore pivoted to a product driven growth strategy versus an aggressive customer acquisition spends led strategy and the team is focused on enhancing existing as well as bringing new product features to differentiate ourselves in this segment.

 

About Non-Financial GAAP measurement

We use EBITDA as supplemental financial measures. EBITDA is defined by us as net income before interest expense, income tax expense and depreciation and amortization, including share of non-controlling interest. EBITDA as used and defined by us, may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures employed by other companies and is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income, net income, cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, or other income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA provide no information regarding a Company’s capital structure, borrowings, interest costs, capital expenditures and working capital movement or tax position.

These numbers have not been subjected to audit or limited review.

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Asia

Onlyplay Enters into Strategic Partnership with Ritchie Rabbit

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Onlyplay has entered into a strategic partnership with online casino and betting company Ritchie Rabbit within the Asia region.

Ritchie Rabbit is said to have “extensive expertise and deep understanding of the Asian market,” which helps Onlyplay as it seeks to expand its presence in the region.

Through this deal, Onlyplay will introduce a range of games and features designed specifically for the Asian gaming community.

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Onlyplay offers a wide range of games such as instant win, slots and crash games, and will now provide games for players in Asia.

Christina Muratkina, CEO of Onlyplay, said: “It is a great pleasure for us to develop the Asian region alongside Ritchie Rabbit. We recognize the immense potential of the Asian market and are committed to delivering top-notch gaming content and experiences to players in the region. This partnership represents a significant step forward in our efforts to offer innovative and engaging games that resonate with our Asian audience.”

The post Onlyplay Enters into Strategic Partnership with Ritchie Rabbit appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Hub88 partners with LiveGames to enhance content offering

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Hub88 has partnered with live casino supplier LiveGames, further strengthening its product offering by adding a unique range of content to its platform.

LiveGames provides fully customisable online live dealer games and branded tables including the first vertical roulette table in the sector, along with crash games and the widely played Tombola.

The supplier delivers experiences with a player-focused design, easy to use mobile interface, and high-resolution broadcasts.

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The partnership will support LiveGames’ goal to further expand in international markets, including Africa, Asia, and Latin America where Hub88 has a strong presence.

The deal showcases Hub88’s commitment to grow its ecosystem of partners, offering a diverse portfolio of products and content.

Ollie Castleman, Head of Hub88, said: “We’re thrilled to unveil this strategic partnership with LiveGames which sees us add a great provider to our platform, one that utilises modern technology to offer bespoke and personalised gaming experiences to players.

“We are looking forward to collaborating and strengthening our content library with their diverse games.”

The LiveGames Team said: “Our journey started in a small studio and as a team, we are excited about now expanding to every corner of the world together with Hub88 and their extensive operator network.

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“We are committed to promoting innovation in the industry and this partnership will support us on that mission.”

The post Hub88 partners with LiveGames to enhance content offering appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Asia

Indonesian Govt to Form Task Force to Tackle Online Gambling

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo has chaired a limited meeting which discussed the efforts taken to eradicate online gambling in the country on Thursday 18 April, at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. Minister for Communication and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi, in his press statement after the limited meeting, said that the Government will form a task force to counter online gambling.

“It has been decided that within a week, we will formulate measures to form an integrated task force in order to eradicate online gambling,” Budi said.

Minister for Communication and Information Technology mentioned that forming a cross-ministries/institutions task force is aimed to handle online gambling more thoroughly, collaboratively and efficiently.

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“Gambling is an illegal act based on regulations. So, we need to impose measures effectively to settle it,” Budi stated, adding that his ministry will focus on handling online gambling websites and contents, while the law enforcement officers will enforce the law.

“Our authority is only to take down the websites, while the Financial Services Authority (OJK) blocks their financial accounts, and then followed by law enforcement officers, police officers, and the public prosecution service officers,” he remarked.

Similarly, OJK’s Chairperson of Commissioner Board Mahendra Siregar also highlighted the importance of holistic measures in eradicating online gambling in Indonesia.

“Some online gambling activities are not conducted in Indonesia, some are cross-borders, some do not use bank accounts, some needs to be tracked and traced through bank accounts, including transfers and so on. So, the next layers must also be addressed, and that way it leaves no empty rooms,” Mahendra explained.

Mahendra said that according to the institution’s authority, from the end of 2023 to March 2024, OJK has blocked around 5000 bank accounts that indicate its relation to online gambling.

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“So far, we have cooperated closely with Communications and Information Technology Ministry. So, if we receive a list of bank accounts suspected to be used or are being used in online gambling activities, we immediately block them, and it has reached up to 5000 bank accounts,” Mahendra mentioned.

The post Indonesian Govt to Form Task Force to Tackle Online Gambling appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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