Latest News
How the Business of Esports is a Chance to be Grabbed in India
The Indian Esports industry is growing rapidly. Growth and penetration of internet infrastructure along with the accessibility of affordable gaming devices have contributed to the rise of Esports in India. Currently, there are over 150 million esports gamers in India which is expected to grow to 270 million by 2024. Contrary to the statistics of gamers around the world, India has grown into a mobile dominant esports ecosystem due to the increasing interest and ease of accessibility to affordable gaming phones among millennials. With 5g technology on the way, we would see more gamers turning to esports enthusiasts.
If we go by numbers, the Indian Esports industry accounted for 9.13% of aggregated revenue out of the overall online gaming market in FY20 as per the inc42 report. India also saw a huge rise in esports viewership touching 17 million in 2020 which is expected to cross 90 million by 2025.
Business opportunities
From game publishers to end gamers, the whole ecosystem runs at multiple levels which gives a plethora of opportunities for businesses and gamers. Here are some of the possible avenues:
1. Event Organizers:
Esports League IPs are being built for different esports games like PMPL & Free Fire Championship to name a few. Organizing big League events attracts massive participation as well as viewership from gaming enthusiasts and fans of esports entities providing lucrative monetization opportunities with Sponsorship, Media Rights, Ticketing, Merchandise, and more. India has seen brands like Mountain Dew, Poco, Qualcomm, Jio, Intel, and many more sponsoring esports tournaments and teams in recent years.
2. Career Opportunities:
Esports is slowly but steadily turning into a viable career option for many. Esports Athlete as a career has now also become lucrative as multiple Team IPs being launched and new startups are launching their own teams to compete in League events. In addition to that, casters/commentators, video editors, coaches, and streamers, etc. are some great options that you can explore as a career in the Esports industry. Casting Talent/Commentator profile offers the opportunity to talk about the game as it goes on.
3. Professional Team Organizations:
With more leagues and events being hosted we’re seeing esports organizations forming professional teams and coaching them into Esports athletes. Owning an esports team creates an invaluable IP where one can monetize via sponsorships, content, and prize pool.
4. Gaming Cafes
Esports cafes have great potential as they support gamers to play Esports games and tournaments without having expensive and requisite hardware. India has over 350-plus such esports cafes equipped with mandatory infrastructure in place. Recently NVIDIA announced to add up to 100 more cafes to the list.
5. Content Monetization
Esports being a spectator sport attracts millions of players who not only play the game but also watch online gameplay on streaming platforms along with keeping up to date with the latest happenings in esports. With the high demand for quality content, monetization via advertisement and patronage has been the bread and butter of the industry.
Investing in Esports is a Viable Business Option
Esports in India is an opportunity waiting to be grabbed, and a lot is already happening in the space.
Increase in Esports League Prize Pool
One of the key reasons behind the skyrocketing popularity of Esports is the prize money attached to it. Since 2016, the prize money given to the players participating in the leagues and tournaments has increased manifold. This has solely attracted a huge audience base In India to play esports and win big.
Prize pools paid out from Indian tournaments saw an increase of over 180%, from just above $500K USD in 2018 to over $1.5M in 2019 with international events like ESL One Mumbai, COBX Masters, and DreamHack Delhi happening in India. The domestic prize pool surge has been fuelled by the popularity of the games such as Free Fire, PUBG Mobile (now introduced as BGMI), and other multiplayer action or strategy games.
Recent Investments in Esports
As the demand for competitive gaming is growing, venture capital firms and investors are showing interest in investing in Esports. Recently, Krafton has done an equity investment of Rs 154 crore in Nodwin Gaming along with $9 million as seed funding to Loco – a game streaming platform popular among streamers. This shows positive growth and opens the gateway for other VCs and firms to look at investment opportunities in the esports ecosystem in India.
Esports in India: The Way Forward
Esports is already an established industry in countries like the US, Japan, and China. India has the caliber and capacity to become the global leader in Esports, and it is about to explode.
By: Mr. Tarun Gupta, Founder, Ultimate Battle, India’s first-ever one-stop online esports platform.
Latest News
Beyond Season’s Greetings: GR8 Tech Unveils Strategic ‘Holiday Calendar’ for Operators
Editor’s Take
Why this matters: Most B2B holiday campaigns are fluff—digital greeting cards that get deleted instantly. GR8 Tech is taking a smarter approach by wrapping high-value strategic advice into a seasonal format. By focusing on 2026 goal-setting (tech upgrades, market wins), they are positioning themselves not just as a platform provider, but as a strategic partner for operators currently in their planning cycles.
The Full Story
GR8 Tech, the award-winning sportsbook and iGaming platform provider, has launched a new initiative designed to turn the holiday season into a period of strategic preparation for operators.
Dubbed the Holiday Calendar, the campaign is an exclusive newsletter experience that moves beyond standard festive greetings to deliver actionable, data-driven insights aimed at helping iGaming champions define and achieve their goals for 2026.
Unwrapping Strategic Insights The initiative runs as a 4-week series, consisting of eight curated email editions. Each edition focuses on a specific “iGaming wish”—ranging from stronger growth and smarter tech to smoother operations.
Instead of leaving these as abstract concepts, GR8 Tech pairs each goal with practical insights from its own data and technology stack, offering a roadmap for how operators can realistically achieve them in the coming year.
Management Commentary Yevhen Krazhan, CSO at GR8 Tech, explained that the campaign mirrors the ambitious mindset of their clients:
“Every operator has a vision for the year ahead: targets they want to hit, markets they want to win, experiences they want to deliver. The GR8 Tech Holiday Calendar is our way of celebrating ambitions and showing how the right insights and technology can turn them into reality.”
How It Works Operators can subscribe via the GR8 Tech website to receive the series. Each message “opens a new tile” on the digital calendar, revealing a specific insight designed to be applied to future business strategies.
The campaign effectively showcases GR8 Tech’s broader value proposition—including its Hyper Turnkey solution and ULTIM8 Sportsbook—by demonstrating how these tools solve specific operator challenges. It comes on the heels of a successful year for the provider, which recently secured the title of Platform Provider of the Year at the SBC Awards 2025.
The post Beyond Season’s Greetings: GR8 Tech Unveils Strategic ‘Holiday Calendar’ for Operators appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry Newsroom.
Latest News
ComeOn Group Fortifies C-Suite: Michela Tabone Valetta Named New CPO
Editor’s Take
Why this matters: In the current iGaming climate, “sustainable growth” isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a survival strategy. By bringing in a seasoned CPO like Michela Tabone Valetta (ex-Bally’s, Gamesys), ComeOn is signaling a focus on organizational maturity. Furthermore, the specific addition of a Country Manager for Ontario (Mark Cheeswright) suggests a deeper entrenchment in North America’s most competitive regulated market, moving beyond general expansion to targeted regional dominance.
The Full Story
ComeOn Group, the leading international iGaming operator, has announced a significant strengthening of its leadership structure, headlined by the appointment of Michela Tabone Valetta to its Executive Team as Chief People Officer (CPO).
The move is part of a broader recruitment drive that has seen the company fill critical senior roles across Compliance, IT Security, Commercial, and Market Management, positioning itself for a new phase of regulated market expansion.
New Chief People Officer Michela Tabone Valetta brings two decades of HR leadership experience, with nearly half of that time spent in the iGaming sector. Her resume includes senior tenures at major industry players such as Vera & John, Gamesys, and Bally’s Corporation. Most recently, she served at BoyleSports, where she supported a workforce of nearly 3,000 employees.
At ComeOn, Valetta will lead the People & Culture function, tasked with refining talent strategy and organizational development as the operator scales its global footprint.
Strategic Senior Appointments alongside the C-level addition, ComeOn Group confirmed four other key strategic hires made earlier this year to bolster its operational foundations:
-
Mark Cheeswright (Country Manager, Ontario): A veteran with over 20 years in iGaming (LeoVegas, William Hill, BetVictor), Cheeswright is tasked with steering the company’s growth in the highly competitive Canadian province.
-
Thomas Mifsud Tommasi (Head of AML): Joining from LeoVegas and BetClic Everest Group, Tommasi brings over a decade of financial crime compliance expertise to the group.
-
Radek Ostojski (Head of Information Security): With a background in cloud architecture and DevOps at Swintt and KingMakers, Ostojski will lead the operator’s cybersecurity initiatives.
-
Rebekka Rogers (Head of Commercial, Casino): Formerly of Evolution, Rogers will drive commercial performance and strategic growth within the company’s core Casino vertical.
CEO Commentary Juergen Reutter, Chief Executive Officer at ComeOn Group, emphasized that these appointments are about building depth for the long term:
“We are delighted to welcome Michela to our Executive Team. Her extensive expertise in people and culture, organizational development, and leadership strategy will be instrumental as we continue to grow and strengthen our operations globally.
“Earlier this year, we also welcomed Radek, Thomas, Mark, and Rebekka into key leadership roles… Their contributions are already reinforcing our strategic foundations, and together with Michela’s arrival, they significantly enhance the depth and capability of our leadership team.”
The post ComeOn Group Fortifies C-Suite: Michela Tabone Valetta Named New CPO appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry Newsroom.
Latest News
Tom Horn Gaming Unlocks New Markets with Major Alea Aggregation Deal
Editor’s Take
Why this matters: In the race for distribution, direct integrations are becoming less common for mid-sized studios. Partnering with a “super-aggregator” like Alea—known for its focus on API performance and data security—gives Tom Horn Gaming instant access to hundreds of operator brands without the technical bottleneck of individual integrations. This move signals a push to maximize the yield from their back catalog of 100+ games in both mature and emerging markets simultaneously.
The Full Story
Tom Horn Gaming, the omnichannel software supplier, has significantly widened its distribution capabilities by signing a new partnership with Alea, the award-winning iGaming aggregator.
The agreement sees Tom Horn’s entire portfolio of over 100 titles integrated into Alea’s aggregation ecosystem. This includes the supplier’s best-performing classic slots such as 243 Crystal Fruits and The Secret of Ba, as well as recent releases like Tao Tree Coins.
Technical & Strategic Fit For Tom Horn Gaming, the deal is a strategic lever to penetrate new jurisdictions more efficiently. By plugging into Alea’s centralized API, the studio gains immediate access to Alea’s extensive roster of operator partners. The collaboration focuses heavily on delivering “localized” content—games specifically tailored to regional preferences and regulatory requirements—without the friction of individual technical setups.
Management Commentary Both companies emphasized the role of compliance and technical reliability in the deal.
Ondrej Lapides, CEO of Tom Horn Gaming, commented on the strategic alignment:
“Partnering with Alea allows us to bring our games to even more operators and players in markets where we’ve long been committed to delivering tailored, reliable, and engaging content. Alea’s focus on compliance and seamless delivery perfectly complements our own ambitions for growth in both mature and emerging regions.”
Eduard Verdaguer, Partnerships Manager at Alea, highlighted the supplier’s reputation:
“Tom Horn Gaming has built a strong reputation for creating accessible, market-tailored content that players know and trust.”
This partnership marks the latest in a series of commercial expansions for Tom Horn Gaming in late 2025, reinforcing its status as a staple content provider for regulated markets.
The post Tom Horn Gaming Unlocks New Markets with Major Alea Aggregation Deal appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry Newsroom.
-
Latest News2 weeks agoSCCG Announces Strategic Partnership with Yellow Elephant Studios to Expand Multi-Channel Gaming Content Worldwide
-
Latest News3 months ago
Announcement: 25th September 2025
-
Latest News1 month ago
JioBLAST Launches All Stars vs India powered by Campa Energy: A New Era of Creator-Driven Esports Entertainment
-
eSports1 month ago
CS:GO Betting Gains Momentum in the iGaming Sector
-
Latest News3 months ago
The Countdown is On: Less Than 3 Months to Go Until The Games of The Future 2025 Kicks Off in Abu Dhabi
-
Latest News3 months ago
Evolution launches Sneaky Slots — a Bold New Slot Studio
-
Latest News2 weeks ago
THE 2025 PUBG MOBILE GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP STAGE WRAPS UP WITH LAST CHANCE IN SIGHT
-
Latest News3 months ago
Leading The Charge! Euronics Group Joins LEC As Official Electronics Retail Partner


You must be logged in to post a comment Login