After New Delhi effectively banned the sector through a new law now in law, the top Indian startup in the real estate gaming sector has begun shutting down operations.
On Thursday, the Indian Parliament Senator passed promotions and regulations on the 2025 online gaming bill. It proposed to ban real money games entirely, aiming to promote casual online games and esports. The vote came a day after the bill cleared the House and left only the president's consent before it became law.
Shortly after the bill was passed in Parliament, Indian Unicorns began closing their real estate gaming business along with Dream Sports and Mobile Premier League (MPL) and other startups such as GamesKraft, Probo and Zupee. Some of these companies notified employees of their decision following the passage of the bill in the House on Wednesday, while others began notifying users directly through the app.
Dream Sports, which counts investors such as Tiger Global, Multiples, Alpha Wave Global, and TCV, has closed its recently launched quick-play fantasy gaming app, Dream Picks. Other apps, including the widely popular Dream11 and Real Money Transactions, including Dream Play, were still up and running at the time of submission. However, TechCrunch has learned that the Mumbai-based startup is planning to shut down its Real Money Games business completely once the law comes into effect.
At a city hall meeting on Wednesday, the startup notified its employees about the impact of the law. Those familiar with the issue spoke to TechCrunch and requested anonymity as the meeting is internal. The Indian site Antrackr has previously reported some details about the meeting.
DreamSport had planned to expand the two India to an informed TechCrunch on the condition that the plans were not publicly disclosed.
The startup also partnered with India's real money business earlier this week, an investor source told TechCrunch.
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A spokesman for Dream Sports declined to comment.
Like Dream Sports, MPL is backed by investors such as Peak XV, Times Internet, MSA Novo, and Crown Capital, and has suspended all real money games and has not acquired any deposits.
“Deposit cash (excluding GST) may be withdrawn from August 22, 2025,” reads a notification on the MPL app.
MPL App Image Credits to Show Notification “Deposits are no longer available”: MPL (Screenshot)
Zupee is backed by investors including Westcap Group, Tomales Bay Capital, Nepean Capital, AJ Capital and Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India), and quickly shut down the real money game.
“In line with the new Online Games Bill 2025, we are canceling paid games, but the highly popular free titles such as Ludo Supreme, Ludo Turbo, Snakes & Ladders and Trade Card Mania will be available for free to all users,” a Zupee spokesman said in a statement.
Also, Probo, another Peak XV-backed startup that counts basic partnerships between elevation capital and its major investors, has halted its authentic gaming operations after Congress led legislation into the environment.
“Unfortunately, we respect the latest online gaming bill from the Indian government. In light of this development, Provo has decided to immediately take effect until further notice and suspend its realistic gaming (RMG) operations.”
Bootstrapped Startup GamesKraft has stopped accepting money on the Rummy app as a result of the law. Similarly, Times Internet-owned fantasy cricket game Cricbuzz11 has ceased its operation.
“Deposit (GST's net) will be refunded to your bank account within 30 days,” the app notifies users, notifying them.
In addition to closing real money gaming operations, many employees at these startups have launched searches for new jobs, posting hundreds of people about their job hunting on social media.
“There is no safe work as these companies are expected to keep their businesses in the coming days and cut down some roles to satisfy investors,” one employee who requested anonymity for fear of risking future opportunities told TechCrunch.
These startups were able to challenge the laws of the Supreme Court of India once it came into effect, but most chose not to pursue that route.
“This rating is accurate – they will have a tough fight on the Supreme Court,” a public policy expert working with some of these real gaming startups told TechCrunch, demanding anonymity in fear of losing their clients.
The real money game startup in India has a combined company valuation of £2 trillion (approximately $23 billion) and generates cumulative revenue of £300 billion (approximately $3.6 billion) and contributes $2.2 billion (approximately $22.9 billion) per year based on direct and indirect tax estimates and indirect taxes levied by Indian pastors. It also projects a combined annual growth rate of 28%, doubling the size of the industry by 2028.
Passed in both Houses of Parliament, the bill highlights our commitment to making India a hub of games, innovation and creativity. Encourages electronic sports and online social games. At the same time, it will save our society from the harmful effects of online money… https://t.co/t1iuuh9jp1
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 21, 2025
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