India passes bill banning real-money gaming, prompting real-money gaming companies to immediately withdraw

On Thursday, August 21, 2025 (local time), the Upper House of the Indian Parliament passed the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Bill, 2025. The bill aims to completely ban

https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/21/as-india-bans-real-money-games-dream-sports-mpl-start-pulling-the-plug/

Exclusive: Dream11 set to shut its core real-money gaming biz
https://entrackr.com/exclusive/exclusive-dream11-set-to-shut-its-core-real-money-gaming-biz-9684454

The Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Bill, 2025, was passed by the Indian House of Representatives on August 20, and by the Senate the following day on August 21. The bill only needs presidential approval to become law, and is expected to be enacted soon.

Shortly after the bill was passed by the Indian upper house of parliament, Indian unicorns Dream Sports and Mobile Premier League (MPL) announced the closure of their real-money gaming operations, along with startups Gameskraft, Probo, and Zupee. Some of these companies reportedly notified their employees of the closure when the bill was passed by the lower house on the 20th.

Dream Sports, which has investors such as Tiger Global, Multiples, Alpha Wave Global, and TCV, has shut down its just-released real-money gaming app, Dream Picks. The official Dream Picks website already displays a 503 error at the time of writing.

503 Service Temporarily Unavailable
https://www.dreampicks.in/

However, Dream Sports' other real-money games, Dream11 and Dream Play , are still in operation at the time of writing. However, TechCrunch reported that 'Dream Sports has independently learned that it plans to completely shut down its real-money gaming operations as soon as the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Bill 2025 is enacted.'

According to sources, Dream Sports has already briefed its employees on the impact of the bill if it is passed, and the company is also planning to expand outside India.

Like Dream Sports, MPL, which is backed by investors including Peak XV, Times Internet, MSA Novo, and Crown Capital, has suspended all real-money games and is not accepting deposits at the time of writing. A notification in the MPL app states, 'Deposits (minus GST ) will be available for withdrawal from August 22, 2025.'

Zupee, backed by investors including WestCap Group, Tomales Bay Capital, Nepean Capital, AJ Capital, and Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India), has also shut down its real-money games. A Zupee spokesperson told TechCrunch, 'In compliance with the new Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, we will no longer offer paid games. However, our most popular free-to-play titles, including Ludo Supreme, Ludo Turbo, Snakes & Ladders, and Trump Card Mania, will remain available for free to all users.'

Another Peak XV-backed startup, Probo, counts Elevation Capital and The Fundamentum Partnership as major investors. Probo suspended its real-money gaming operations after the bill passed Parliament. Probo told TechCrunch, 'While we are disappointed, we respect the Indian government's latest online gaming bill. In response to this development, Probo has decided to suspend its real-money gaming operations effective immediately and until further notice.' Probo revealed its plans to shut down its real-money gaming operations.

Gameskraft also stopped accepting deposits on its real-money gaming apps following the passage of the Online Gaming Promotion and Regulation Act 2025 in the Senate.

Cricbuzz11, owned by Times Internet, has also ceased operations at the time of writing. The app reportedly notifies users that their deposits (after GST deduction) will be returned to their banks within 30 days.

In addition to closing their real-money gaming businesses, employees of these startups have already begun looking for new jobs, according to social media posts. An anonymous employee of a startup that closed its real-money gaming business told TechCrunch, 'These companies are expected to cut some staff in the coming days to maintain their business and satisfy investors, and our jobs are no longer stable.'

Real-money gaming startups could challenge the law in India's Supreme Court if it goes into effect, but most are unlikely to do so, and public policy experts say startups would face an uphill battle in the Supreme Court if they did.

In a letter to the Indian Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs, the industry association revealed that the total corporate value of Indian real-money gaming startups has reached 2 trillion rupees (approximately 3.4 trillion yen) and cumulative revenue of 310 billion rupees (approximately 530 billion yen). According to the industry association, the real-money gaming business in India is growing at an average annual rate of 28%, and the industry is expected to double in size by 2028.