BUSINESS
Pocket FM to lay off 75 employees amid push for profitability
The app claims to have more than 200 million listeners who have streamed more than 100 billion minutes of content, with an average daily listening time of over 115 minutes.
BUDGET
Budget 2025: Real-money gaming firms seek redressal of tax issues, rationalisation of policies
The real-money gaming industry is hoping for a resolution of the retrospective taxation issues and lower GST rates to sustain the sector's growth
BUSINESS
'This is a win-win': Real-money gaming firms welcome Supreme Court's stay on GST show cause notices
Over 50 RMG companies and industry associations including Gameskraft, AIGF, Games24x7, Head Digital Works, and EGF have challenged retrospective tax notices worth more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the Supreme Court.
TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft to invest $3 billion in cloud & AI in India: Satya Nadella
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also announced an increased commitment to AI skilling in India, with plans to train 10 million people in AI skills over the next five years.
TECHNOLOGY
Google unveils Gemini 2.0 to power the next generation of virtual agents
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said new advances in multimodality — like native image and audio output — and native tool use will enable the tech giant to build AI agents that brings them closer to their vision of a universal assistant
BUSINESS
MPL acquires game development tools startup CloudFeather Games to bolster tech capabilities
CloudFeather has built technology tools for game developers, including server infrastructure and wallet integration systems
TECHNOLOGY
Google to expand free Maps usage limits for developers starting March 2025
Google's decision to expand free limits comes a few months after it reduced Google Maps Platform pricing in India by up to 70%.
STARTUP
Bitkraft Ventures sets base in India with Anuj Tandon as first partner
As Bitkraft's India Partner, Anuj Tandon will look to back local gaming and interactive media startups, with focus on AI, game tech and content
BUSINESS
Industry veterans form GDAI, want to become the voice of India's video-gaming industry
GDAI, formed by India's gaming industry stalwarts, is releasing a white paper that laying out a roadmap for incubation and ecosystem development aimed at making the country a global gaming leader
TECHNOLOGY
Elon Musk's xAI rolls out Grok chatbot to all X users, escalating battle with OpenAI and Meta
Grok AI chatbot's rollout to all users on X, comes a day after xAI disclosed a $6 billion funding round from a series of investors.
TECHNOLOGY
Spotify Wrapped 2024 helps people discover their music taste with an AI touch
Spotify is partnering with Google's AI note taking tool NotebookLM to create a personalised AI-powered podcast in certain markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
TECHNOLOGY
Nazara Technologies, Lysto to launch Web3 marketing infra platform The Growth Protocol
The Growth Protocol aims to bring greater transparency, equity, and monetary benefits to all participants in the Web3 marketing ecosystem
TECHNOLOGY
Nazara Technologies buys 60% in Funky Monkeys for physical entertainment foray
Nazara Technologies announced five investments totalling Rs 196 crore, aimed at bolstering its verticals and subsidiaries. The gaming firm also made its first AI bet
BUSINESS
Competition Commission orders probe against Google on complaint by gaming company WinZO
CCI's new antitrust probe against Google over alleged anti-competitive violations marks the latest regulatory challenge for the tech giant in its largest user market, India.
BUSINESS
Nazara Technologies closes Rs 855-crore funding round to fuel acquisition spree
Nazara Technologies, one of the country's oldest gaming firms, has been aggressively pursuing acquisitions to scale and expand its portfolio of businesses
BUSINESS
Pocket FM's FY24 revenue tops Rs 1,000 crore; losses down 21%
Pocket FM's FY24 revenue grew six-fold to Rs 1,051.97 crore, driven by a surge in microtransactions and advertising. The company has now set sights on a European expansion
BUSINESS
Uber launches 'Uber One' subscription plan in India
Uber One is offering benefits like Uber Credits and Zomato Gold complimentary subscription for its users.
TECHNOLOGY
Google ropes in former Apple executive Mitul Shah to lead Pixel's expansion efforts in India
Google aims to scale up its Pixel business in the country to capitalise on the rising demand for premium smartphones among consumers in the world's second-largest smartphone market
TECHNOLOGY
Decentralised gamer network KGeN bags $10 mn funding led by Aptos Labs; valuation jumps to $500 mn
The financing for KGeN, co-founded by gaming veteran Manish Agarwal, comes amid renewed optimism in the Web3 gaming sector
TECHNOLOGY
Alle is Google Play's 'best app' of 2024 in India, Squad Busters the 'best game'
Google Play has come out with its 2024 list of best Android apps and games in India, spanning various categories including everyday essentials, personal growth, and hidden gems
TECHNOLOGY
Meta to appeal against CCI's antitrust order on WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update
CCI directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, along with other remedial measures on November 18.
BUSINESS
CCI imposes Rs 213.1 crore fine on Meta over WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update
CCI has also directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for five years.
TECHNOLOGY
Xiaomi to replace its app marketplace GetApps with PhonePe's Indus Appstore in India
Xiaomi's decision to replace GetApps with PhonePe's Indus Appstore is expected to boost adoption of the homegrown Android app store, which seeks to challenge the dominance of the Google Play Store.
BUSINESS
Disney+ Hotstar's paid subscriber base rises to 35.9 million in Q4-FY24
Walt Disney's combined streaming businesses reported an operating income of $321 million for the quarter while revenue increased 15 percent to $5.78 billion.
