Next Wave Multimedia Private Limited, a subsidiary of Indian gaming company Nazara Technologies Limited, has announced a three-year deal Cricket Australia to launch a new ‘Big Bash Cricket’ game.
The governing body of cricket in Australia has roped in the Chennai-based mobile gaming company to develop video games based in two of its iconic professional T20 cricket league – KFC Big Bash League (BBL) and Rebel Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
The deal will see Next Wave Multimedia to develop unique mobile games for fans of the Big Bash leagues across the globe. The company, known for its World Cricket Championship (WCC) game, sees the move as a significant step towards expanding its global footprints in mobile cricket gaming.
The ‘Big Bash Cricket’ game will add to Nazara Technologies’ strong cricket games pedigree that includes World’s top batsman Virat Kohli, Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisees Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), NextWave’s World Cricket Championship (WCC), Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Patrick Horan, Cricket Australia’s Digital Gaming Manager, said, “I’m really excited to take our mobile game ‘Big Bash Cricket’ to the next level in collaboration with Next Wave Multimedia,”
“We look forward to offering Big Bash fans in Australia and around the world an even more realistic representation of the game they love with improved graphics and gameplay as well as all new features including a multiplayer option.”
“Considering Next Wave Multimedia’s mobile gaming pedigree and the quality of their existing cricket games, we can’t wait to see what their team does with our teams and players.”
P.R Rajendran, CEO, Next Wave, said, “We believe that mobile games around cricket enable millions of Indians to vicariously live the ‘on ground’ experience virtually and with the BBL’s legion of fans, this offers a perfect setting for this partnership. With ‘Big Bash Cricket’, the game will boost engagement with existing fans and also appeal to a larger audience.
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“We are confident that this partnership will build a strong and vibrant community of cricket fans around the globe.”
Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Technologies, said, “We at Nazara believe that cricket fans around the globe have been missing a high-quality gaming experience on their mobile devices unlike their counterpart soccer fans. This partnership with Cricket Australia gives Next Wave an opportunity to offer a console-quality cricket gameplay experience on their mobile devices and attract younger audiences to virtual Big Bash games.”
Nazara has invested in mobile gaming companies in the sports genre such as Mastermind Sports Limited, Moonglabs Technologies Private Limited, HalaPlay Technologies Private Limited. Nazara has taken a majority stake in Next Wave Multimedia Private Limited and NODWIN Gaming Private Limited last year and offers gaming subscription services in over 61 countries globally including, Africa, Middle East, South East Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.
With Nazara’s strong cricket pedigree that includes work with Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore, NextWave’s World Cricket Championship (WCC), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and now Cricket Australia’s Big Bash Leagues, it is now in a position to further strengthen its foothold in the cricket gaming space.
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