From NFT gating to Web 2.5: how Nazara’s ex-CEO is tackling crypto games

Manish Agarwal, a gaming industry veteran and former CEO of Nazara Technologies, is now leading the charge to break down the barriers of NFT gating in Web3 games through his new venture, Kratos Studios. He aims to simplify the use of NFTs in gaming and make it accessible to a wider audience.

Manish Agarwal / Photo credit: IndiGG

Through Kratos, Agarwal and angel investor Ishank Gupta acquired IndiGG, a community that aims to help Web3 games find distribution in emerging markets, from Yield Guild Games (YGG) via a token swap. The deal was completed in February.

After tinkering with different models, Agarwal has now implemented an approach that fetched IndiGG an annual revenue run rate of US$2.2 million just six months after he took over its operations in mid-2022. In contrast, previous NFT investments have failed to yield returns for the company, which operates as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

YGG had partnered Polygon Studios to launch IndiGG in 2022 as a subDAO initially, providing gamers with opportunities to earn through Web3 gaming in India.

Growth in Web3 gaming

According to Agarwal, higher consumer acquisition costs and decreasing customer lifetime value are among the challenges that the freemium mobile gaming industry has faced in recent years. Under this model, users don’t have to pay for downloading and playing games, but they still the option to make in-app purchases.

These issues were further aggravated by Apple’s IDFA policies, which do not allow app marketers to measure advertising performance from iPhone users.  

Blockchain technology can offer a possible solution to these problems. 

Image credit: Timmy Loen

With blockchain, players can own their in-game assets and construct a unique digital identity and reputation based on their gameplay achievements. Owning these assets allows them to benefit from the growth of their community.

This can ostensibly boost players’ spending and investment in the game, which in turn can generate more revenue for the game developer.

However, it’s worth noting that given the novelty of the freemium blockchain gaming model, it’s a premise that still needs to be tested.

Agarwal also sees emerging markets like India, with its large and rising gamer population, as ideal for building a distribution platform for blockchain games.

The IndiGG business model

The NFT gating problem

The future of Web3 gaming