Srinivas, co-founder of the Indian online game platform Mobile Premier League (MPL), confirmed in his internal memo that the company would significantly reduce the size of the team in India as a result of the Government of India ‘ s total ban on gold games. According to the source, MPL may have cut by between 60 and 80 per cent the number of Indian employees (currently about 500-600) and the policy, market, financial, operational, engineering and legal sectors have been affected.
In India, the new Internet Game Act prohibits a gold game in which a user is expected to benefit from a direct or indirect deposit. Since the bill was passed by Parliament on 22 August, platforms such as MPL have suspended cash competition projects and retained the free game option only. Srinivas says: “Indian business accounts for 50% of the income of the parent company M-League, which means that we will lose all Indian income in the near future. Despite the setbacks, we are still trying to find a new business model for MPL, and the entire management is committed to that goal.”
MPL decided not to raise a legal challenge to the ban and recommended that the industry organization AIGF abandon legal proceedings and focus on free game development. Srinivas explained in the memorandum that “even if the court grants relief, there will be a long process, during which the business will be stalled for months or even years, and there is no guarantee of its viability in India. If public will does not endorse a business model, we choose to accept it and move forward.”
Similar to MPL, several companies, including Dream Reports, Gameskraft, Zupee and Moonshine Technology, PokerBazi parent, decided not to challenge the law. However, India ‘ s online Rami brand A23 Rummy operator Head Digital Works has filed a case with the High Court of Karnataka, and the hearing is scheduled for 8 September.
The MPL was created in 2018 by Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra and provides over 60 free table tours, card games and leisure games at the end of a mobile phone, with over 90 million registered users in Asia, Europe and America. In September 2021, US$ 150 million in financing, valued at US$ 2.3 billion, became a unicorn with investments from Peak XV (formerly Redwood India) and RTP Global. The MPL also owns the European card and board game studio GameDuell and hatched the mobile game studio Mayhem Studios in 2022.
For fiscal year 2023-24, M-League income grew by 22 per cent to $130 million, and the adjusted EBITDA achieved a balance of gains and losses of $0.2 million. This was MPL’s second round of layoffs in recent years — after the August 2023 Goods Services Tax (GST) Commission recommended a 28 per cent tax on gold game deposits, the company had cut 350 employees.