The ban on real-money games in India is beginning to affect the country’s economy. According to Reuters, the Indian online gaming app Mobile Premier League (MPL) will cut 60% of its local workforce following the adoption of the Promotion and Regulations of Online Gaming Bill 2025, which prohibits the promotion of real-money games due to their perceived negative social impact.
Reports from the recruitment company CIEL HR indicate that the ban has left around 2,000 people searching for new jobs amid uncertainty in the sector.
Following the abrupt regulatory change, MPL, along with Flutter and Dream11, pulled its real-money gaming products from the Indian market, shifting focus to free-to-play games and operations in Europe, the US, and Brazil.
As a result, according to a company source, 300 out of 500 MPL employees in India will be laid off from the marketing, finance, operations, engineering, and legal divisions.
An internal email, seen by Reuters, from MPL’s CEO, Sai Srinivas, said: “With a heavy heart we have decided that we will be downsizing our India Team significantly.
“We are committed to providing those impacted with every possible support during this transition period … India accounted for 50% 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.”
Operators in the country, including large domestic players such as Dream11 and international operators like Flutter, responded to the ruling by pulling their RMG offerings from the market.
Industry bodies in the country, such as the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), E-Gaming Federation (EGF), and the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), have written to India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, highlighting the economic consequences of passing the law.
The Indian gaming industry is currently valued at $3.7bn and was projected to hit $9.1bn by 2029, according to the India Gaming Report 2025.
The decision has also been met with its first legal challenge.
Head Digital Works, the parent company of A23, has filed a petition to High Court of Karnataka against the bill, describing the new law as a “product of state paternalism”. A23 warns that the decision, which was approved by India’s parliament last week, “criminalises the legitimate business of playing online games of skill, which would result in the closure of various gaming companies overnight”.
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