Nazara targets AI-operated studios within a year via Bluetile

Nazara Technologies Limited is targeting an artificial intelligence (AI)-operated group of gaming studios within a year by extending Bluetile’s central capabilities. The early operating evidence is more than 290 advertising creatives produced for three studios in one month; the financial base is Q2 FY27 gaming revenue of Rs 656 crore, up 122% year-on-year.

What is Nazara’s one-year AI target?

Nazara’s stated target is an AI-operated group of gaming studios connected to a central platform within a year. Chief Executive Officer Raymond Stauffer said the immediate priorities are to align operations, set a delivery standard and introduce AI at every studio through centres of excellence, or COEs, in marketing, data, product and technology.

The plan follows the consolidation of Bluetile and BestPlay from 1 August 2026. Stauffer described the platform as one that takes input from studios while distributing systems and learning across them, with gaming receiving most of the group’s operating attention. Management did not provide a revenue, margin, cost-saving or staff target for the one-year programme.

Nazara also declined to provide a five-year numerical growth target when asked by an analyst. Stauffer said the objective was consistent “qualitative” growth, supported by organic studio performance and potential mergers and acquisitions, or M&A, at the central level. That leaves the AI target as an operating goal rather than financial guidance.

How is Nazara rolling out Bluetile’s AI capabilities?

Nazara is moving Bluetile’s leadership, tools and AI know-how into group-wide COEs. Stauffer said Bluetile had operated at scale with relevant tooling and operational systems, and that using its leadership was intended to accelerate the transition. At the time of the Q2 FY27 call, he said the teams were deployed across nearly all gaming studios.

Marketing is the first measurable application. Nazara said Bluetile’s AI-ready creative-production system produced more than 290 advertising creatives in one month for three studios. Management expects output to increase as it installs the relevant tools and processes at more studios, allowing a central team to support marketing across the gaming portfolio.

The data COE is building a semantic layer that management said can be used by AI and made accessible to studios through a marketplace. Nazara plans for one AI-ready data stack to support group analytics, including new game launches and future acquisitions. The company did not provide a timetable for the data marketplace’s completion.

How could the central model change development and staffing?

Nazara says the central model is intended to support growth without proportional additions to full-time employees, or FTEs. Management said central marketing staff and contractors could be deployed between studios to address work spikes, reduce capacity bottlenecks and limit idle time. It did not announce workforce reductions, a group FTE target or expected savings.

The data marketplace has the same intended mechanism: studios would reuse central data and AI capabilities rather than build every system separately. Stauffer said the approach should allow growth without “throwing people at the problem.” This remains management’s operational rationale, rather than a quantified productivity commitment.

Product and technology are also central to the plan. Stauffer said new AI frameworks could reduce game-development cycles by “very high percentages,” without giving a precise estimate. The intended uses include adding features to existing games more quickly and shortening the time needed to develop and launch new titles.

Nazara said studios will pursue both established titles and new releases. Curve is working on unit economics in older games while signing intellectual property, or IP, and releasing titles, while Fusebox continues to optimise Love Island after launching The Traitors. Management described the exchange between Bluetile, BestPlay and other studios as bidirectional, with each side contributing practices and tools.

What financial base supports Nazara’s platform plan?

Nazara’s Q2 FY27 results show gaming as the principal base for the rollout. Gaming revenue rose 122% year-on-year to Rs 656 crore, representing 82% of consolidated revenue, while gaming earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, increased 114% to Rs 141 crore. Excluding Bluetile and BestPlay, gaming revenue grew 11% and EBITDA grew 17%.

Gaming EBITDA exceeded consolidated EBITDA because the gaming figure was stated before corporate costs. Consolidated EBITDA margin expanded by 311 basis points to 14.9%, while gaming EBITDA margin was 21.5%. Profit after tax from continuing operations was Rs 35 crore, compared with a Rs 34 crore loss in Q2 FY26.

Bluetile and BestPlay generated Rs 329 crore of revenue and Rs 64 crore of EBITDA in their first two months of consolidation, with revenue up 49% and EBITDA up 64%, according to management. Nazara attributed the contribution to rapid product iteration, expansion into new markets, AI-automated user acquisition and cross-promotion.

Which results show the need for shared studio capabilities?

Nazara’s studio performance varied by segment, supporting management’s case for shared capabilities rather than a single operating response. Mobile gaming revenue, including Bluetile and BestPlay, increased 167% year-on-year to Rs 550 crore. By contrast, Fusebox revenue fell 4% because of lower organic installs, although its EBITDA rose 7% after changes to content, employee costs and monetisation.

Curve recorded revenue growth of 27% to Rs 77 crore and EBITDA growth of 61% to Rs 30 crore. Its EBITDA margin increased from 30.8% to 38.9%, helped by Sovereign Tower, Wobbly Life’s mobile debut and Human: Fall Flat, which has surpassed 60 million players. These results contrast with Fusebox’s lower installs and show why the group is targeting faster launches and central marketing support.

Management said The Traitors had favourable initial metrics after its launch, but did not disclose revenue or player counts. Stauffer said its most loyal cohorts were about twice, or more, those of Love Island, while cautioning that more would be known in coming months. That makes subsequent results from the title a practical test of the planned product, data and marketing model.

Nazara also plans to create an ad-monetisation COE to improve advertising monetisation across studios. This is a future initiative, not a completed deployment, and management gave no launch date, investment figure or expected revenue contribution. Its progress will therefore remain separate from the currently deployed marketing, data, product and technology COEs.

Conclusion

Nazara is using the Bluetile integration to move from a collection of gaming studios toward a shared operating platform. The more than 290 advertising creatives produced across three studios are the clearest early measure of that effort, while Q2 FY27 gaming revenue of Rs 656 crore gives the group its largest financial base for the rollout.

The next test is management’s one-year target for an AI-operated studio group. Investors and readers can watch for wider deployment of the semantic data layer, AI development frameworks and the planned ad-monetisation COE, alongside evidence of faster releases and organic growth. Nazara has not set financial or staffing targets for the programme.