Quick take:
- Nazara Technologies is planning to pivot into blockchain gaming this year.
- The freemium mobile game maker said on May 16 that it will create a cricket game to capitalise on the adoption of Web3.
- The company will invest in the Web3 space through its subsidiary Next Wave Multimedia.
Leading mobile game developer Nazara Technologies has announced its plans to foray into Web3. The Indian gaming company said on May 16 that it will launch a blockchain-based cricket game to capitalise on the growing popularity and adoption of Web3 products.
Commenting on his company’s plans for the Web3 space during the latest earnings conference, Nazara Technologies chief executive Manish Agarwal said: “We believe that the massive amount of community cult following that this IP has with the proven game engine model, foray into Web3 can be very successful.”
Agarwal believes that Nazara Technologies could achieve greater success given the performance of the new crypto native developers that do not have a proven game engine or proven communities.
The company is developing the blockchain game based on its leading title World Cricket Championship (WCC), offered via Nazara Technologies’ freemium gaming subsidiary Next Wave Multimedia. The game claims to be the largest mobile-based cricket simulation game and has already released two sequels, WCC2 and WCC3.
Delving deeper into the details, Nazara Technologies claimed that the three games achieved a monthly active user base of 9.8 million in the March quarter, averaging 42 minutes each daily. It also managed 100,000 downloads without any additional spending.
Nazara Technologies is currently setting up a team for its blockchain gaming unit to evaluate options for building the new blockchain game.
The media and gaming company is looking to leverage emerging technologies to optimise gaming monetisation, which has been a problem in the country.
While speaking at a recent industry event, Nazara Technologies founder Nitish Mittersain said: “I think web3 is providing a completely different set of monetisation opportunities with potentially higher ARPU (average revenue per user).”
Although the mainstream gaming industry continues to resist the opportunities created by the play-to-earn blockchain game concept, some seem willing to embrace the change despite facing community backlash. They see this as an opportunity to boost revenue streams that have become a challenge even in free-to-play game models.
“Monetisation on games has been a challenge in the India market, even in a freemium model, except for a few top-grossing games,” Mittersain said.
Stay up to date:
