MPL to Cut 60% of India Workforce After Online Paid Gaming Ban Rival Dream11 has also withdrawn its fantasy cricket games, while other platforms offering paid poker and rummy have suspended operations.
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Mobile Premier League (MPL), India's online gaming platforms, will lay off nearly 60 percent of its domestic staff following the government's decision to ban paid online games, according to a company source familiar with the matter. The move marks the industry's first large-scale response to the new regulation.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government prohibited online paid games, citing financial risks and concerns over youth addiction. The sudden policy shift has forced several popular gaming apps offering fantasy cricket, poker and rummy to shut down their paid operations.
The ban shocked the Indian industry backed by venture capital firms such as Tiger Global and Peak XV Partners that was set to be worth USD 3.6 billion by 2029. Companies like MPL and its rival Dream11 gained traction in recent years by offering skill-based fantasy cricket platforms with cash rewards, arguing that their business did not fall under gambling restrictions.
As a result of the new law, MPL would let go of roughly 300 of its 500 India-based employees across marketing, operations, finance, engineering and legal divisions. "With a heavy heart we have decided that we will be downsizing our India team significantly," MPL co-founder and chief executive Sai Srinivas wrote in an internal email to employees seen by Reuters.
He added that the company would support those impacted during the transition. "India accounted for 50 percent of M-League's revenues and this change would mean that we would no longer be making any revenue from India in the near future," Srinivas said.
MPL, which was valued at USD 2.3 billion in 2021 and is backed by Peak XV Partners and Tiger Global, has been shifting its focus to free-to-play models in Europe and expanding its paid games operations in the United States and Brazil. Last year, the company's India revenue was estimated at USD 100 million.
Rival Dream11, valued at USD 8 billion, has also withdrawn its fantasy cricket games, while other platforms offering paid poker and rummy have suspended operations. Meanwhile, A23, another Indian gaming firm, has mounted a legal challenge against the government's ban, but MPL and Dream11 have opted not to contest the order.
