‘We have over 50% share of the mobile games revenue in India’

What is the current market share of your company? How has it performed with respect to competitors in the last fiscal?

Nazara has over 50% share of the mobile games revenue in India and the company has outperformed the market in general. It has posted 60% revenue and EBIDTA growth for the last fiscal year continues to grow at a rapid pace and is widely seen as a leader in the mobile games sector in India. Today, Nazara is not only an established and renowned brand but is also among the top 3 players in the domain.

How has Nazara grown in the Indian VAS space?

The company has managed to see exceptionally good growth since the initial round of funding and sees a great potential in future. We will continue to build up innovations and provide the best services to the consumers in times to come. We reach consumers today through various mediums, like carrier desk, advertising in off-deck channels, through apps stores such as the android market place, and other free app stores.

In terms of innovationH what are your key achievements?

Nazara technologies has a strong focus on micro-pricing and freemium led models which are the future of the industry. It has 150 mn active games club subscribers and is amongst the top 2 mobile companies in terms of deck presence in India and was also ranked 17th in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50, India 2010.

How much do you plan to invest in India?

We will invest upwards of 20 crore in the current fiscal year. Until now, we have only raised a small amount of investment from Sequoia Capital and they have been very close partners with us over the last few years but going forward, as this Indian

CEO, Nazara Technologies

market is scaling, we will be raising more money. At an average it is about 70% that the carrier takes and 30% that we get.

How does Nazara generate revenues?

We generate revenues by selling mobile games to the end consumers, these are sold for an average price of 50 but we are also selling day passes, eg, for 3, so there are diverse price points. We are also getting revenues from advergaming where the games are given away free and ads are embedded, but that is still very small. It may grow nicely over the next year or so.

How do you create awareness about your brand in the market?

Majority of our marketing happens through the mobile carrier where we reach out to the users through our existing distribution channels. We also aim to build our direct to consumer effort which will include spending some money to build our brand and service and also having viral components.

How will your applications help service providers increase their revenue?

Our game services and content drive strong mobile internet usage, repeat usage from customers, and significant monetization through ads and micro payments.

The VAS players need to delink partially from the operator and start focusing on non-operator business in a big wayH do you plan any applications on these lines?

Yes, I agree that VAS players need to delink partially from the operator and start focusing on non-operator business in a big way, and in this regard we have rolled out several direct to consumer mobile internet properties which include gCity and Gamesclub.

What are the challenges that the VAS industry is facing at large?

Poor revenue shares from carriers obstructing innovation. Recently, Vodafone has increased revenue shares and we have seen strong growth momentum on the carrier.

What is your strategy to overcome the challenge of price sensitiveness in the Indian market?

The Indian market needs to grow and mature first. The other thing is that companies in India have to figure out how they will differentiate. There is a lot of content coming in from the Western countries in India, whereas in countries like China there are a lot of differentiators and barriers, so we think content, platforms, and building large communities are the areas that need to be focused on. Moreover, Freemium model as well as advertising led gaming would be our key strategy to overcome the challenge of price sensitiveness in the Indian market.