Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, whose stake in Nazara Technologies is set to rise to 3.5 percent, said on September 4 that online gaming will have an even greater presence ten years from now.
Kamath’s comments came after Nazara Technologies’ board approved issuing shares worth Rs 100 crore to Kamath’s companies.
The investment will take Nikhil’s stake in the company to about 3.5 percent from 1 percent. Speaking to CNBC TV-18, Kamath said he planned to raise his stake further. Edited excerpts of Kamath’s interview:
On Gaming
“Rate of growth in gaming especially in the below 20 years category is crazy, across the world not just in India,” Kamath said. Gaming and e-sports will grow at a pace faster than old-school content.
Nazara Technologies is the behemoth in India and it was very logical for him to place his bets on it, Kamath said.
Speaking about Zerodha, which is India’s leading stockbroker, and Nazara, Kamath said the investment has nothing to do with the brokerage firm. “This is more of a personal investment,” he said.
On e-sports
Kamath expects e-sports to continue to grow at a quick pace as internet penetration grows. “An Indian incumbent (Nazara Technologies) which is doing innovative things around e-sports and gaming has to be encouraged and hopefully this Indian company one day will compete with larger international players,” he said.
Moneycontrol reported on September 1 that Kamath was looking to increase his stake in the mobile gaming company. The development was first reported by CNBC-TV18.
India’s gaming scene
India’s overall online gaming industry revenues increased from $2 billion in FY21 to $2.6 billion in FY22 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 27 percent to $8.6 billion in FY27, a report by early-stage venture capital firm Lumikai said.
The number of esports players grew fourfold to 600,000 in 2022 from 150,000 in 2021 and the number is projected to increase to 1.5 million by the end of 2027, according to a separate report compiled by Lumikai and Amazon Web Services.
eSports is estimated to become a Rs 1,100 crore industry by 2025, a four-fold increase from Rs 250 crore in 2021, a recent EY report said.