NODWIN Gaming has announced the appointment of Sonal Varma as global director – live events, reinforcing the company’s leadership as it expands its global portfolio of gaming, esports and youth entertainment experiences.
Varma joins the organisation with more than 15 years of experience in building fan communities and large-scale live properties. Her career includes work on prominent pop culture platforms such as Comic Con India, Geekly and the Indian Cosplay Championship, where she contributed to the development of fan-led cultural experiences and community engagement initiatives.
In her new role at NODWIN Gaming, Varma will lead the strategy, design and execution of new initiatives across the company’s global live event ecosystem. Her mandate includes working across existing intellectual properties as well as developing new formats aimed at bringing gaming communities together. She will also focus on scaling event experiences across emerging gaming markets while strengthening the cultural relevance of NODWIN Gaming’s events for diverse audiences.
Prior to joining NODWIN Gaming, Varma served as vice president at Comic Con India. During her tenure, she played a role in expanding the event into one of India’s prominent pop culture platforms. Her responsibilities included overseeing multi-city expansion, building strategic brand alliances and managing collaborations with global studios and consumer brands. She also led initiatives spanning event strategy, sponsorships, international talent programming and fan engagement programmes designed to connect creators, brands and audiences.
Varma’s appointment comes as NODWIN Gaming continues to expand its global events footprint through several marquee intellectual properties. These include DreamHack India, NH7 Weekender, Comic Con India and Battlegrounds Mobile India Series (BGMS), alongside a growing portfolio of esports and gaming festivals across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The company has steadily increased its presence in emerging gaming markets by organising large-scale tournaments, fan conventions and community-led experiences. These initiatives aim to engage audiences that are shaping the evolving global gaming culture.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director, NODWIN Gaming, said, “Sonal brings a deep understanding of how live experiences can bring communities together around gaming and pop culture. Over the years, she has helped build events that fans truly care about, and as we continue to expand our global live events footprint, her experience will be invaluable in creating experiences that feel authentic and meaningful for audiences across markets.”
Sonal Varma, global director – live events, NODWIN Gaming, said, “Joining NODWIN Gaming at this moment feels incredibly exciting because the canvas is so large. There are new audiences, new markets, and new formats waiting to be explored. I’m looking forward to working with the teams across the network to create live experiences that celebrate gaming culture while staying rooted in the communities that make it so powerful.”
In recent years, NODWIN Gaming has grown into a gaming and esports company operating across competitive gaming, fan festivals, creator communities and youth culture platforms. Through its intellectual properties and partnerships, the company continues to invest in emerging markets where gaming audiences are expanding rapidly.
With Varma leading global live events, NODWIN Gaming aims to further scale its flagship properties while introducing new event formats that bring together gaming, esports, entertainment and fandom across international markets.
