Big news at AFK Gaming—we’ve just been acquired. Today’s edition dives into the details behind the deal. Also on deck: a dive into Steam user trends, Twitch’s slight audience dip, Sony’s growing stake in Kadokawa (the parent company of Elden Ring developer FromSoftware), and more.
NODWIN Gaming, a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, has acquired AFK Gaming Pvt. Ltd., in a deal valued at INR 7.6 crore. The transaction, involving cash and a stock swap, will make AFK Gaming a fully owned subsidiary of NODWIN Gaming, subject to closing formalities.
The acquisition is aimed at bolstering NODWIN’s capabilities in content production, marketing, and PR services for esports and gaming. By integrating AFK Gaming into its operations, NODWIN seeks to enhance its offerings to brands and publishers, expanding its footprint in the esports ecosystem.
AFK Gaming, founded in 2012, has been a part of India’s esports media landscape for over a decade. NODWIN previously held a 7% stake in the company and had invested as a strategic partner in 2017. With this acquisition, AFK’s founders will assume roles within NODWIN’s ecosystem, contributing to strategic initiatives and expanding marketing services through Max Level, AFK’s agency vertical.
Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder of NODWIN Gaming, described the move as a step toward consolidating operations within the growing esports industry. The deal reflects NODWIN’s ongoing expansion efforts, following recent acquisitions in India and overseas.
Steam users spent just 15% of their total playtime in 2024 on new releases, . While this marks an increase from 9% in 2023, older titles continue to dominate playtime.
Games released in the past one to seven years accounted for 47% of total hours played, while 37% of playtime went to titles over eight years old, including Counter-Strike and Dota 2. Despite notable launches like Helldivers 2 and Black Myth: Wukong, the data highlights a persistent preference for familiar games.
The slow adoption of new titles underscores the challenge of breaking into Steam’s crowded ecosystem, where over 200,000 games compete for attention. Established live-service games and a vast catalog of older favorites make it harder for recent releases to gain a foothold.
Twitch Watch Time Declines Slightly in 2024
Twitch users logged 18.5 billion hours in 2024, down from 18.9 billion in 2023, . Platform diversification and multistreaming trends are cited as potential factors for the slight decline in total viewership. The platform’s top nine games, unchanged since 2020, include GTA V, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Valorant..
Sony to Become Largest Shareholder in Kadokawa Corporation
Sony is set to , boosting its stake to approximately 10%. The strategic alliance aims to co-produce anime, adapt Kadokawa IP into live-action content, and expand publishing for Kadokawa’s anime and games, including FromSoftware titles like Elden Ring and Dark Souls.
Netflix India Partners with Hanumankind to Drive Engagement for ‘Squid Game’ Season 2
Netflix India has launched a promotional anthem, “The Game Don’t Stop,” ahead of the December 26 release of Squid Game Season 2. The campaign features Indian hip-hop artist Hanumankind, whose viral success with Big Dawgs has made him a popular figure in the Indian indie music industry.
Lin Qi, the founder of Yoozoo Games and a producer of the much-anticipated adaptation of The 3 Body Problem Netflix Series, . He was poisoned with a cocktail of at least five toxins by a coworker, allegedly inspired by the TV series Breaking Bad.
Yoozoo Games, based in Shanghai, is best known for its hit mobile game Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming and its role-playing game League of Angels. Lin founded the company in 2009 and quickly scaled it into a global publisher, gaining prominence for adapting popular intellectual properties into successful gaming franchises. His work on The Three-Body Problem, based on Liu Cixin’s bestselling sci-fi trilogy, was seen as a significant milestone for Yoozoo’s push into entertainment production.
