Return on India
Episode 7 Gaming for 1 Billion People
Return on India

Episode 7: Gaming for 1 Billion People

Return on India

Episode 7

Gaming for 1 Billion People

Nitish Mittersain is the founder and CEO of Nazara. We cover the evolution of the video game market in India, the impact of Jio’s high-quality data service, and his outlook on India’s potential video game market over the next ten years.

[00:02:40] - [First question] - The evolution of the video game market in India

[00:04:13] - How Value Added Services (VAS) via TelCo’s 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

Gaming for 1 Billion People

Introduction

Romeen
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 $2 billion 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 has 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 six million mobile users at its peak to one of India's successful consumer IPOs with an aspiration to build a multibillion-dollar revenue business over the coming decade, the Nazara story is filled with lessons applicable for anyone looking to understand the Indian start-up ecosystem. Please enjoy my conversation with Nitish Mittersain.

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