With the central government imposing a blanket ban on real-money gaming, nearly $15 billion of investment value in these startups is beginning to weigh heavily on venture capital investors, as companies and their backers scramble to figure out the next steps for an industry that’s collectively raised $2 billion.
While Dream Sports, the parent company of India’s largest fantasy sports app Dream11, has started piloting a wealth management product, Winzo Games is expanding into the US market, along with launching micro-drama offerings.
“We’ve made huge investments and are bound to face major capital losses… At this point though the efforts are towards finding out what can be done next,” a New Delhi-based venture capital investor, who has backed real-money gaming companies, told ET. “Real-money gaming companies, essentially, are consumer platforms with a large user base that can be leveraged for other offerings.”
Global and domestic funds, including Tiger Global, Z47, Think Investments, Peak XV Partners and Malabar Investments have backed companies such as Dream Sports, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Games24x7 and Zupee, which are now grappling with regulatory headwinds.
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“These companies are going to be, not just for us, but for everyone, going to be very largely a write-off, because the business is shut effectively. They all have cash in the bank, because they made a lot of money,” said Rehan Yar Khan, managing partner, Orios Venture Partners. “Since there was always a regulatory overhang over real money gaming, we took a very tiny experimental exposure. So, from the over Rs 2,000 crore that we manage, we invested only Rs 5 crore, that too across two funds in real money gaming.”
The sweeping ban has disrupted business models and forced several platforms to shutter money-based games. Dream11, Gurugram-based Zupee, Peak XV Partners-backed opinion trading platform Probo and MPL have shut their real-money gaming (RMG) products.
Also Read: Dream11, My11Circle, other real money gaming firms begin discontinuing offerings
“In some of the companies that are heavily dependent on RMG, there will be a question mark in the short term as they figure out the next step,” said a partner at a venture capital firm with exposure to the space.
Still, some investors remain optimistic that the shakeout could drive innovation. “Most of the VC investors who have invested in gaming did not just come in for RMG. They believe in the long-term evolution of India’s gaming ecosystem. There are pivots and options these companies can explore, because gaming is still a very nascent industry in India,” one investor said.
Nazara Technologies, the only listed player in the space with exposure to real money gaming, saw its market cap drop by Rs 2,164.9 crore in the past week in the aftermath of the government’s move to ban these services.
Large revenue buckets
Real-money gaming has been a large cash-generating operation for these startups, which have largely been profitable.
For the fiscal year ended March 2023, Dream11 reported revenue of Rs 6,580.8 crore and a net profit of Rs 443.6 crore, according to Tracxn. The company has yet to file its financials for FY24 and FY25. Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Games24x7 posted revenue of Rs 2,023 crore with a net loss of Rs 199.6 crore in FY23, while Bengaluru-based Gameskraft reported revenue of Rs 3,521.4 crore in FY24 with a net profit of Rs 947.8 crore.
PeakXV Partners, Tiger Global, Z47, Malabar Investments, Orios Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital didn’t respond to queries.
ET had reported on August 21 that gaming companies are considering alternatives, from testing overseas markets where real-money play is legal to shifting toward free, ad-supported contest formats.
However, experts had pointed out that the advertising model will be far less profitable in comparison to real-money gaming, given that engagement on the apps will decline as the money element is taken away.
“We have been in touch with our investors since the day the cabinet decision was announced, trying to find out what can be done next. This is a major setback but we need to keep building,” said one of the founders of a real-money gaming firm.
