India’s Nazara Tech adds investors, enters VR gaming
Nazara Technologies, India’s only publicly listed gaming company, has secured a fresh investment from Axana Estates LLP through a preferential allotment of equity shares, increasing Axana’s stake in the company to 5.4 percent.
Axana-led PACs now hold 27.15% stake
According to the regulatory filing, Axana Estates acquired the 5.4 percent stake through a preferential issue of 50,00,000 equity shares with a face value of ₹4 ($0.046) each. Post-acquisition, Axana and its Persons Acting in Concert (PACs) now collectively hold 27.15 percent of Nazara’s fully diluted share capital.
The PACs include Plutus Wealth Management LLP (10.91 percent), individual investor Arpit Khandelwal (7.44 percent), Junomoneta Finsol Private Limited (1.7 percent), and Mithun Padam Sacheti and Siddhartha Sacheti (0.85 percent each). Before this allotment, the group already held around 23 percent in the company.
Following the issuance, Nazara’s total equity capital has increased from ₹35.04 crore ($4.3 million) to ₹37.04 crore ($4.6 million). The new capital structure comprises 9.26 crore shares, including employee stock option plans (ESOPs).
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has granted approval for Axana and six other entities to acquire a majority stake or gain control in Nazara Technologies, enabling the investment move.
Investor profiles
Axana Estates is primarily involved in real estate and investment operations, such as acquiring and managing shares and financial instruments. Plutus Wealth Management operates across stock and commodity broking, while Junomoneta Finsol functions as a proprietary stockbroking firm.
The collective investment signals growing institutional confidence in Nazara’s gaming business, which spans esports, gamified learning, and interactive gaming platforms.
Nazara enters VR gaming with Pokerverse launch
Parallel to the news, Nazara Technologies has made its debut in the virtual reality (VR) gaming space with the launch of Pokerverse VR. The multiplayer poker game is available globally and compatible with popular headsets such as Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro.
Developed by Hyderabad-based studio YesGnome and published by Nazara Publishing, the game features real-time multiplayer gameplay, natural VR controls, and augmented reality (AR) options. Players can either step into a virtual poker lounge or overlay the game environment onto their real-world space using AR.
“We wanted to reimagine poker as an immersive, social experience that felt tactile, intuitive, and global from day one,” said Sridhar Muppidi, Founder of YesGnome. “It’s been an exciting journey building Pokerverse VR, and we’re thrilled to partner with Nazara Publishing to bring this vision to players across platforms.”
“With Pokerverse VR, we’re taking our first step into immersive gaming experiences at Nazara Publishing,” said Nitish Mittersain, Jt MD & CEO of Nazara Technologies. “As platforms like Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest gain traction, we see exciting possibilities in this space. We’re actively exploring future titles with developers who want to build for the next era of gaming.”
Financial performance
Nazara Technologies reported a consolidated net profit of ₹4.07 crore for Q4 FY25, a notable rise from ₹18 lakh in Q4 FY24. However, the company posted a loss of ₹9.79 crore from discontinued operations in the quarter, impacting its overall profitability. On a sequential basis, Q4 profit was down from ₹8.85 crore in Q3 FY25.
For the full financial year, Nazara’s net profit dropped 31.82 percent to ₹50.96 crore, down from ₹74.75 crore in FY24. Despite the profit decline, the company saw a sharp 95.40 percent rise in revenue, reaching ₹520.2 crore in Q4 FY25, compared to ₹266.21 crore in Q4 FY24. Sequentially, revenue dipped 2.7 percent from ₹534.69 crore in Q3 FY25.
Today, Nazara’s shares closed at ₹1,300, down by 1.58 percent on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).
