BUSINESS
Gameskraft, Nazara, MPL, AIGF and others request govt to reconsider 28% GST on real-money gaming
The GST Council's decision will "reverse the growth trajectory" of the industry and would potentially have "devastating implications" for MSMEs and startups, founders and industry associations say.
BUSINESS
Google extends Play Games beta for PC to India, 60 other countries
In India, the service will be available in English and Hindi. Players will be able to access popular titles from Indian developers, such as Ludo King and Hitwicket Games, as well as global titles, such as Eversoul, Lords Mobile, and Evony: The King’s Return.
BUSINESS
Google's ChatGPT rival Bard now supports 9 Indian languages, adds Lens integration
This is Google Bard’s biggest expansion to date. The AI chatbot is now available in most parts of the world, and in the most widely spoken languages.
BUSINESS
28% GST levy will make Indian real-money gaming sector an 'unviable business model': IAMAI
The GST Council's decision will be a huge blow to India’s ambitious target to achieve a $1 trillion digital economy by 2025, the industry body said.
BUSINESS
28% GST levy will upend the economics of real-money gaming sector, says Nazara's Nitish Mittersain
The revenue impact on Nazara Technologies itself will be minimal since the segment contributed only a modest 5.2 percent to the company's FY23 revenue, Mittersain said.
BUSINESS
Nazara Technologies says 28% GST on online gaming to have minimal revenue impact
Nazara Technologies said skill-based real money gaming contributed a modest 5.2 percent to its FY23 revenue
BUSINESS
'Will wipe out the entire industry', say online gaming cos after GST set at 28%
GST Council's decision will lead to lakhs of job losses and will benefit "anti-national illegal offshore platforms", say industry associations
TECHNOLOGY
Instagram's Twitter rival Threads crosses 100 million users in 5 days
It took ChatGPT 2 months to reach 100 million users, TikTok about nine months and Instagram itself took about two and a half years to reach the mark
BUSINESS
Instagram launches Threads to take on Elon Musk's Twitter
People will be able to use their Instagram username on Threads and follow the same accounts as they do on Meta's photo and video sharing platform
TECHNOLOGY
Instagram provides an early look of its Twitter rival 'Threads'
Instagram's Threads is looking to capitalise on the growing trend of Twitter users looking to migrate to alternative platforms.
BUSINESS
Twitter puts 'temporary' cap on number of tweets users can read a day
Twitter owner Elon Musk said they have placed these limits to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation
BUSINESS
Carl Pei's Nothing bags $96 million funding ahead of Phone (2) launch
With this funding round, Nothing has raised $250 million to date. It claims to have sold 1.5 million devices until now.
BUSINESS
Google, IISc help make local apps in India more inclusive
Google said that IISc is open-sourcing the first set of speech data comprising over 4,000 hours across 38 languages to developers, with more data sets expected to be added in the future.
TECHNOLOGY
WhatsApp Business crosses 200 million users, will soon allow ad creation without FB account
WhatsApp will soon enable small businesses to send personalised messages to their customers
TRENDS
Google appeals against NCLAT order upholding Rs 1,338 crore anti-trust penalty
It is to be noted that the CCI has also challenged the NCLAT's order at the Supreme Court.
BUSINESS
Lumikai launches $50 million fund to back early-stage gaming startups
The fund has also set up a $10 million AIF to attract domestic Rupee capital, bringing its total AUM to $100 million.
TECHNOLOGY
WhatsApp now allows users to silence unknown callers
The feature will give more control to users who have been complaining about a spike in spam calls in recent months
TECHNOLOGY
Instagram rolls out Telegram-like broadcast channels globally
Instagram Broadcast Channels feature allows people to share text, video, voice notes and photo updates with their followers
BUSINESS
Chinese giant Tencent eyes India comeback with Undawn game launch
The launch comes nearly three years after Tencent withdrew all of its games and mobile apps, including its popular messaging app WeChat, from India.
BUSINESS
Can't DM someone on Twitter if they don't follow you? Find out why
Twitter owner Elon Musk had earlier said limiting DMs to non-followers to verified accounts will curb bot spam messages on the platform.
BUSINESS
Krafton's BGMI game is back in India 10 months after suspension
Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that BGMI is on a three-month trial approval and they will keep a close watch on other issues before taking a final decision.
TRENDS
Nazara's Nodwin Gaming raises $28 million for international expansion, IP development
Along with IP development and expansion in emerging markets, the company will use the funds to acquire more companies.
BUSINESS
Game streaming startup Rooter bags $16 million led by Lightbox
Rooter aims to cross $10 million ARR by the third quarter this year and also hopes to hit profitability by April 2024
BUSINESS
Google to start enforcing Play billing policy in India, claims less than 60 developers will pay service fee of over 15%
This fee would be further reduced by 4 percent if a user pays through an alternative billing system, the company said.
