INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT GIANT WINZO ACQUIRES NCR-BASED GAMING STUDIO UPSKILLZ GAMES

 

The acquisition will see WinZO onboarding the Blockchain and Web3-based offering from Upskillz as a part of WinZO’s content portfolio while also adding Upskillz’s 1.3 million captive audience base to its platform

 

 Reinforcing its strong commitment to the growth of the Game Development ecosystem in the country, India’s Largest Vernacular Interactive Entertainment platform, WinZO has acquired Upskillz Games Private Limited, a Gurugram-based, fast-growth casual game development studio. The all-cash deal saw WinZO acquiring a majority stake of the studio for an undisclosed amount. To maximize this synergy, WinZO will closely collaborate with the Upskillz team from the concept stage of new game developments and will be sharing support in terms of its technical expertise and resources towards this endeavour.

This deal shortly follows a recent announcement of WinZO making investments in other High Potential Game Development Studios, namely Bengaluru-based Bombay Play, UK-based Village Studio and IndiGG, a blockchain based Gaming Guild. These investments were made by WinZO under its flagship initiative, the $26 Million WinZO Game Developer Fund which was rolled out with an intention to invest in, and extend the proprietary technology, innovation, and research that WinZO has built for the unique mobile-first users of Bharat.

WinZO, which has onboarded Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador, is India’s largest social gaming and interactive entertainment platform which boasts of a massive and growing registered user base of 80 Million + garnering over 2.5 billion microtransactions per month. The platform hosts 100+ games across 6+ formats of diverse genres including Casual, E-Sports, Fantasy, and Quizzes on a single app, WinZO (www.winzogames.com) which is available in 12+ vernacular Indian languages. WinZO, which is widely known for democratising entrepreneurship among all its stakeholders and partners including the game developers, envisions creating a conducive and supporting ecosystem for game development in the country. It aspires to set India on the global map in terms of game development, creating world-class titles out of India and catering to a global audience. This makes way for avenues for all relevant stakeholders to grow holistically, while meaningfully contributing to the overall development of the industry and the country. WinZO’s initiative is in complete resonance with the Government’s initiative of Aatmnirbhar Bharat (Self-dependence) and these steps exhibit WinZO’s commitment and belief in this glorious initiative.

Upskillz Games Pvt. Ltd. was founded by a first-time entrepreneur, Mr. Mannit Sidhu in December 2020 with a focus on bringing the applications of modern technologies into Gaming. Since its inception, Upskillz has recorded a tremendous growth in users and revenues cumulatively growing at a Monthly Rate (CMGR) of 75% since May 2021. The acquisition will see WinZO onboarding the Blockchain and Web3-based offering from Upskillz as a part of WinZO’s content portfolio while also adding Upskillz’s 1.3 million captive audience base to its platform. WinZO, a brand which is renowned for its revolutionary technological innovations that have solved and continue to solve real-world business issues which have challenged the Online Gaming industry for over a decade, adds another feather to its cap through this acquisition. 

Speaking about the acquisition, the Founder of Upskillz, Mannit Sidhu said, “WinZO is the biggest player in the Indian social gaming ecosystem with a deep understanding of the market

and user behaviour. The unparalleled innovation-based approach at WinZO makes it destined to be the top player of this $1.5 Billion rapidly growing industry in India. Having the proponents of these same values at Upskillz, makes this association with WinZO a natural one. Together, we are committed to develop world-class gaming titles powered by modern technology for users in India and globally.”

Expressing his views about the acquisition, Co-founder of WinZO, Paavan Nanda said, “WinZO is glad to welcome Upskillz as a part of its team. India is at the cusp of a global gaming revolution today and with the participation of great partners like Upskillz, WinZO is committed to unlock this latent potential of the Indian game development industry and set India at its rightful position as a leader of this $100 billion global mobile gaming market. This is a testament of our commitment to the Prime Minister’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative and back the high-quality game development studios in India and nurture the ecosystem. We look forward to working closely with the Upskillz team to bring world-class gaming titles for our users and the world”

About WinZO

WinZO is the largest social gaming and entertainment platform in India. Launched in early 2018, the Company partners with third party developers to host games on their Android app, where users can enjoy personalized multiplayer gameplay experiences. The platform is available in 12 languages such as English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, and Bhojpuri, with over 65 million registered users. The WinZO platform facilitates over 2.5 billion micro-transactions per month across a portfolio of 80+ games. WinZO is focused on building an enthusiastic community of gamers and gaming influencers in Tier II to IV cities in India. The Company envisions a future where the WinZO platform can deliver a culturally relevant and enjoyable experience in the Indian gaming ecosystem, monetized through a unique micro-transaction model.