Pixel P&L: NODWIN Eyes IPO With New Board Hire as Tamil Nadu Bets Big on Gaming and Animation

Welcome to another Pixel P&L edition. This issue takes 6 minutes to read. If you only have one, here are the 5 most important things:

• NODWIN Gaming adds an MTG executive to its board as the company gears up for an IPO.

• Tamil Nadu unveils a five-year policy to capture 20% of India's AVGC-XR market by 2030.

• Sega admits its games undersell despite lower dev costs, plans marketing overhaul.

• HoYoverse recovered $5.38 million from leakers and cheaters in 2025.

• AppLovin survey finds mobile gamers are frequent online shoppers — 70% play daily, 71% shop weekly.

Let's get into it.

NODWIN Gaming Adds MTG Executive Arnd Benninghoff to Board Ahead of Planned IPO

NODWIN Gaming has appointed Arnd Benninghoff, Executive Vice President of Gaming at Modern Times Group, to its board of directors as the company prepares for a public listing.

Benninghoff has led MTG's strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He previously served as Chief Digital Officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, Managing Director of SevenVentures, and CEO of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He has founded fifteen companies across gaming and media, and began his career as a journalist for Deutsche Presse Agentur. He holds a business degree from the University of Münster.

"Arnd is a rare leader who understands the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem," said Akshat Rathee, NODWIN's co-founder and managing director.

The board appointment coincides with NODWIN's launch of a pre-IPO fundraising round. The round will include primary issuance for global expansion and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale for existing shareholders. The company reported $58.5 million USD in revenue for the first nine months of FY 2026, up 42% year over year, and said it has returned to EBITDA profitability.

NODWIN operates across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Tamil Nadu Approves Five-Year Policy to Build State Into India's AVGC-XR Hub

The Government of Tamil Nadu has approved a five-year AVGC-XR policy targeting 200 startups, two lakh jobs and a 20% share of India's animation, visual effects, gaming, comics and extended reality market by 2030.

The framework, issued via Government Order on March 12, anchors on a ₹50-crore Centre of Excellence in Chennai with regional spokes in Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem and Tirunelveli. A ₹250-crore Research & Technology Fund backs R&D across computer graphics, AI and software engineering. Startups can access grants up to ₹1 crore through existing state instruments including TANSEED and TANFUND.

The policy's most unusual provision: an IP-collateralisation framework through TIIC, allowing studios to secure term loans against intellectual property, a first among Indian states. Online money games are explicitly banned; esports receives formal recognition under the National Sports Governance Act 2025.

ELCOT is the nodal agency, with biannual reviews by a Steering Committee.

⚡️Quick Bytes

Sega Plans Marketing Overhaul After Admitting Its Games Undersell

Sega CEO Haruki Satomi said the company's main titles cost less to develop than most AAA games but acknowledged that lower budgets haven't translated into stronger sales. Sega now plans to overhaul its marketing and sales operations to close the gap. The shift follows a roughly $205 million write-down on Rovio, acquired in 2023, after Sonic Rumble underperformed.

HoYoverse Recovered $5.38 Million From Leakers and Cheaters in 2025

HoYoverse recouped more than 37 million yuan ($5.38 million) in damages and settlements last year after filing civil suits against 2,388 individuals across its games, including Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. The company also cooperated with authorities in 22 criminal investigations and secured public apologies from 1,240 infringers.

Mobile Gamers Are Frequent Shoppers, AppLovin Report Finds

About 70% of mobile gamers play daily, and 71% shop online at least once a week, according to an AppLovin survey of 2,500 U.S. players. Nearly 40% bought a product within three months of seeing an in-game ad, with 92% of those buyers reporting satisfaction. Around 71% said they view in-game ads favorably, and 70% reported making most household purchasing decisions.

⚔️Side Quest

🤣Laugh:

📺 Watch: Two and a Half Gamers breaks down why rewarded user acquisition went from sketchy growth hack to legitimate channel eating 30-40% of mobile studio budgets. Massimo Caroli from MAF explains ROI timelines, retention dynamics, and how rewarded playtime models are changing offer wall economics. Essential viewing if you're wondering why studios are suddenly throwing serious money at what used to be considered bottom-tier traffic.

🎮 Play: John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is Left 4 Dead with vehicle combat and full grindhouse energy. Rip through massive zombie hordes with over-the-top weapons, off-road mayhem, and weapon customization that actually matters. Performance is solid (120+ FPS at 1440p ultra), playing with randos feels like the old L4D days, and the co-op chaos hits that nostalgia sweet spot. If you want stress relief with friends, this delivers.

📚 Read: Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund explains how his 360-person team ships AAA games at a quarter of typical budgets. Arc Raiders sold 14 million copies using Google Maps topography, photogrammetry shortcuts, and procedural generation to cut boring work. Söderlund argues team size doesn't define AAA (output does) and says Embark won't balloon to thousands of employees chasing four live games.

💡Did You Know

Google has invested $1 million into Animaj Studio, an AI animation company that makes YouTube videos for kids. The investment, from Google's AI Futures Fund, gives Animaj early access to Google's Veo, Gemini, and Imagen AI models. Animaj co-founder Sixte de Vauplane told Bloomberg that Google recognizes the "AI slop" problem on YouTube and wants studios that can use the technology responsibly. Animaj's channels pulled in 22 billion views last year. The move comes as YouTube has been banning AI-generated kids' channels with billions of views following a New York Times investigation into bizarre AI content targeting children.

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