Nazara Technologies acquired Hyderabad-based OpenPlay for Rs. 186.4 crores.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed Nazara Technologies Ltd on Friday announced that it has acquired a 100% stake in Hyderabad-based skill gaming company OpenPlay Technologies for Rs. 186.4 crores as a company is looking to widen its presence across the gaming platforms. This is the second acquisition for Nazara in the skill-based real money space after the 2019 purchase of Halaplay.

Based in Hyderabad and head office at Kolkata OpenPlay was founded in 2012 by Sreeram Reddy Vanga that operates a multi-game consumer gaming platform under the Classic Games brand. OpenPlay is India’s fastest growing Skill Gaming company offering Fantasy Sports, Quiz, Rummy, and various other skill games. It claims to be the only Indian-origin gaming company to be licensed and regulated by the UK Gaming Commission and various EU regulators. We have operated gaming for over 15 years in these highly regulated markets.

“There was uncertainty in the regulatory landscape for real-money and skill gaming, but some positives are emerging along with clarity. This is also giving us the confidence to look at this segment and build a sizeable real-money gaming business. We are very confident of the strong product innovation which OpenPlay brings on the table, and will look to scale our skill and real-money gaming business with this acquisition,” said Manish Agarwal, chief executive officer, Nazara Technologies,

Nazara Technologies is India based diversified gaming and sports media platform with a presence in India and across emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America, with offerings across interactive gaming, eSports, and gamified early learning ecosystems. The company owns some of the most recognizable IP, including WCC and CarromClash in mobile games, Kiddopia in gamified early learning, Nodwin and Sportskeeda in eSports and eSports media, and Halaplay Technologies Private Limited (“Halaplay”) and Qunami in skill-based, fantasy, and trivia games

“I’m excited to join the ‘Friends of Nazara Network’ and look forward to working closely with Nazara leadership and the network to build India’s largest vernacular social gaming and entertainment platform. Our technology complemented by Nazara’s positioning in the gaming industry in India is the perfect combination for this endeavor,” Sreeram Reddy Vanga, founder, OpenPlay Technologies.