MPL To Lay Off 60% Of India Staff: Report

Gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League (MPL) plans to let go of around 60% of its India workforce following the ban on online real money games (RMG). 

MPL cofounder Sai Srinivas Kiran, in an internal mail, informed the staff that the startup will be downsizing its workforce in India significantly, Reuters reported. 

“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,” Srinivas wrote in the email.

As per a separate Moneycontrol report, MPL has around 500 to 600 employees in India.

Inc42 has sent a questionnaire to MPL seeking further details about the development. The story will be updated on receiving responses. 

This comes weeks after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 which banned RMG in the country. 

Founded in 2018 by Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra, MPL offered paid and free-to-play games such as fantasy sports, sports games, puzzle, casual and board games. 

In an interaction with Inc42 last month, Srinivas said that half of MPL’s revenue came from India and the rest from overseas markets. The revenue split between product types was also equal, with RMG segment and free-to-play games contributing equally to the startup’s top line. 

The operating revenue of the India entity of MPL stood at INR 879.5 Cr in FY 24, an increase of 8% from INR 814.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Its Singapore entity, M-League, recorded a revenue of INR 1,099 Cr in FY24, a 22% jump from INR 898 Cr in the previous year.  

After the passage of the gaming bill, MPL closed all RMG offerings in India. The startup, which has raised a total funding of over $375 Mn to date, is backed by the likes of Peak XV, peercheque, and MDI Ventures.

The Great Reset For RMG Players

After the government’s crackdown on RMG, all players in the segment, including Dream11, Gameskraft, A23, Games 24×7, Junglee Rummy, stopped offering paid games. 

Among them, only Head Digital Works, the parent of A23, took the legal route to challenge the RMG ban, filing a petition in the Karnataka High Court. 

Meanwhile, other gaming platforms, such as Dream11, Gramescraft and WinZO, have decided not to challenge the ban. Instead, they are now focussing on other opportunities to sustain their businesses. 

For instance, Dream Sports founder Harsh Jain said that the startup will not undertake any layoffs and would rather focus on scaling its online streaming platform FanCode and redeploy its resources, especially in the AI segment. The company has also ventured into investment tech with the launch of Dream Money.

WinZO has pivoted to the short video segment by rolling out its short video feature called ZO TV. Additionally, the platform will take its online gaming offering to the US market.

Others like Zupee and Gameskraft have moved to free-to-play offerings.