Nazara: Gaming for 1 Billion People Return on India

My guest today is Nitish Mittersain, founder and CEO of Nazara. One of the longest-standing and most exciting consumer businesses today in India is gaming. The ecosystem is ripe with venture capital, over $2bn has been infused in the last few years, developer talent and an influx of customers with the rise of Jio. But the gaming story has been around for the last 25 years and Nazara’s been a participant since the beginning. I enjoyed getting Nitish’s perspective on the industry at large, how it’s evolved, and why now is the inflection point for India to make an impact at a global level. From a business model that originally planned for 6 million mobile users at its peak to one of India’s successful consumer IPO’s with an aspiration to build a multi-billion dollar revenue business over the coming decade, the Nazara story is filled with lessons applicable for anyone looking to understand the Indian startup ecosystem. Please enjoy my conversation with Nitish Mittersain.
 
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.
 
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Show Notes
[00:02:40] - [First question] - The evolution of the video game market in India
[00:04:13] - How Value Added Services (VAS) via TelCos propelled Nazara in its early days
[00:06:04] - The impact of Jio’s high-quality data service on the mobile gaming industry
[00:08:02] - The landscape of gaming in India today
[00:11:58] - Unpacking the notion that gaming in India is like it was in China 10 years ago
[00:12:59] - Creative video game monetization strategies for Indian consumers
[00:14:38] - Factors driving recent growth in terms of willingness to pay for games
[00:16:33] - Distinct characteristics that are unique to the Indian gaming market 
[00:19:54] - Why locally relevant content is important to Indian consumers
[00:20:50] - The explosion of India-native gaming companies
[00:23:32] - The heterogeneity of archetypes across pan-Indian gamer demographics
[00:26:29] - How Nazara’s structure addresses every corner of the Indian gaming market
[00:30:58] - How he thinks about the spectrum of diversification and focused scaling
[00:32:37] - The operational strength of their Friends of Nazara ecosystem model
[00:35:08] - Cutting out the middleman and creating a direct B-to-C empire 
[00:36:43] - Nazara’s bootstrap DNA focused on profitability and sustainable margins
[00:40:07] - Where he imagines profit pools will emerge in the future
[00:41:18] - What Indian consumers are willing to pay for in terms of game design
[00:43:39] - His outlook on India’s potential video game market over the next ten years
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