Decoding The ‘Science Of Gaming’ Behind Games24x7’s INR 2000 Cr+ Business

When Trivikraman Thampy and Bhavin Pandya – both New York University alumni – thought of a gaming platform back in 2006, that would eventually become Games24x7, the new media market was taking its baby steps in India. 

Gaming is not gambling by default, but it was hard for Games24X7 to win investor confidence at that time. And many more years to convince them that real money gaming exists separately from casinos and online gambling.

The startup entered the unicorn club in 2022 after raising $75 Mn at a valuation of $2.5 Bn, with investors such as Tiger Global, The Raine Group, and Malabar Investment Advisors on its cap table.

Nearly two decades after it launched, the startup has emerged as one of the three unicorns in the country’s $3.8 Bn online gaming industry, which has a 30% share of the $12.5 Bn new media market. Along the way, the startup has crossed INR 2,000 Cr in revenue after reaching that mark in FY23.

Besides creating games, the company is also looking to use some of its reserves to back gaming startups. Games24x7 Ventures, a corporate investment wing of the startup, recently announced the first cohort of its TechXpedite Accelerator Programme, picking up 17 startups from sectors like gaming, AI and impact-driven inclusive technology.

But at its core, Games24x7 is all about two major games: RummyCircle and My11Circle. As its name suggests, RummyCircle operates a number of skill-based games that have attracted more than 15 Mn players and turned profitable by 2012.

In 2019, the company entered the realm of fantasy sports with the launch of My11Circle.  It claims to have more than 500 Mn fantasy teams created on its platform every year, and gained plenty of limelight as an associate partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024.

However, these outcomes are tempered by the fact that online real money gaming in India still has a certain stigma to it. “The industry is conflated with gambling even today,” said Thampy.

But that’s not the only hurdle for Games24x7. Since late 2023, real money gaming companies have seen a major downturn especially as many tax litigation matters are currently pending resolution at the Supreme Court. Besides this, state governments have cracked down on what they perceive to be predatory gaming or borderline gambling with sweeping laws that disrupt all real money gaming companies.

Several gaming startups have shut down or scaled back after the GST notification in 2023. How did Games24x7 navigate this period? CEO Thampy says it’s about having the right frameworks even before crisis hits.

As part of Griffin Dialogues, Games24x7 cofounder and CEO Thampy took us through the framework around leadership, how the company defines succcess for itself and what it means to work under the regulatory scanner. For Games24x7, it’s all about the Science of Gaming.

Here are the edited excerpts.

Inc42: Firstly, take us through how the central tenets of Games24x7’s organisational structure, how do you create the feeling of ownership and how has this evolved over the years

Trivikraman Thampy: Structuring teams effectively is hard because there are always overlapping responsibilities. So, it’s really important to have clear owners for different responsibilities. The other side of this coin is giving those owners the ability to make decisions and execute. In other words, as much decentralisation as  possible.

A combination of clear points of responsibility and decentralisation with freedom to execute is critical to scale an organisation. This is also the best way to create long-term value for employees – by giving them the clarity of ownership and the ability to implement.

In the early stages of the business, I considered it a bad thing if I didn’t know every single thing about every single department and if I wasn’t aware of every single issue in the product. Today, at the scale we have reached, that would be a terrible thing. Today, I consider four aspects as the most important parts of my job and none is more important than the other.

One, define the strategic vision and goals for the company. Two, have a stellar leadership team in place to execute on the vision. Three, work with the leadership team to build a long-term plan. And, four, define, maintain and nurture the right culture to drive growth and innovation.

I also want to add that effective leadership isn’t about taking control but about enabling teams to make informed decisions and drive meaningful impact.

When it comes to handing over leadership, the key criteria include a deep understanding of the company’s vision, the ability to inspire teams, a strong analytical approach to decision-making and above all, they are deeply rooted in our culture. It’s what we call the Science of Gaming.

By nurturing talent and providing them with opportunities to take charge, we ensure that transitions strengthen the organisation’s future and pave the way for continued success.

Inc42: As a gaming company, you have to always evolve and expand. How do you decide what to take on next ?

Trivikraman Thampy: Launching something new always comes at some cost to the existing business, but this cost  cannot be material. The newer the business, the higher the cost. In fact, at a very early stage, an attempt to diversify often results in a loss, which can be catastrophic for the business.

Finding capable leaders that embody your culture for new verticals is very difficult. So the leaders for new verticals have always been internal folks who have been with us for a long time. They are good leaders and are steeped in our culture. This is the only way to ensure that your culture carries over into the new vertical as well. This is another reason why you cannot diversify too early.

The new vertical should ideally have strong synergies with the existing business or be an offshoot of something in the main line of business. Expertise is key to success. And starting something in which you have no expertise is generally a bad idea.

 Inc42: What cultural values or practices have you implemented to keep Games24x7 agile and innovative at scale within these frameworks? 

Trivikraman Thampy: To be truly agile and innovative with scale, be as far away as possible from centralised decision making. Build stellar teams, give them clear directions and empower them to make decisions and execute. That’s what we believe in.

Another very critical piece here is collaboration. And collaboration doesn’t only mean supporting others. It also means giving people critical feedback when you feel they are not going in the right direction. Collaboration also refers to the ability to take critical feedback as long as it is given with the intent of helping you do better.  

At Games24x7, our scientific culture, and in particular, our principles of being objective and why-centric (relentlessly asking why) in how we work and collaborate with each other, form the nerve centre of our  organisation and are central to our culture of innovation.  

Inc42: How did you deal with investors and their expectations in general after raising large rounds in a growth sector?

Trivikraman Thampy: 100% honesty and transparency.  

Look, I believe companies should raise capital when they have avenues to put it to use. In particular, the cost of capital raised should be lower than the expected return on the capital invested. If this is true, raise capital galore.

Raising capital by itself otherwise has no meaning. A lot of times companies raise capital because they can and this often results in a lot of waste. We have never had growth at the cost of culture. 

In 2022, we raised capital from Malabar. We raised this capital specifically because we saw an excellent opportunity in the fantasy space and I believe we have put that capital to excellent use in building My11Circle. 

Inc42: Let’s talk a little about regulatory challenges. How did Games24x7  manage to adapt to the shifts?

Trivikraman Thampy: As with most tech-first sectors, product innovation in the gaming industry outpaced regulation, creating gaps and uncertainty. This challenge was further exacerbated by the absence of clear definitions, lack of  awareness, and the onslaught of illegitimate operators to exploit a booming market. 

While we faced challenging times, our confidence didn’t waver because we have always operated within  the bounds of the law, knowing that any turbulence is temporary. Did it impact the business? Of course, it did.

However, instead of dwelling on setbacks, at Games24x7, we focused our efforts on diversifying our business, further  strengthening our technology infrastructure, deepening our investments in data science, AI and ML to  deliver great experiences to our players. In the end, these challenges only reinforced our commitment to  innovation and long-term growth.  

Inc42: You build several products and they have their own branding needs. How do you retain the core identity of Games24x7?

Trivikraman Thampy: While the brand identity is important, I believe building the right product and culture is critical. Driven by an exceptional team, our focus has always been on offering the best possible experiences to our users.

Driven by our operating ethos ‘Science of Gaming’, we have focused on user-centricity from the very beginning. Hearing every tap and click to understand what our users are saying, and then offering them hyper-personalised experience is what has helped us reach where we are today.

I think we have a compelling narrative: It’s a story of a company that’s driven by a deep love for entertainment through gaming, a company that leverages technology to push boundaries for what’s achievable and consistently innovates to provide unparalleled experiences for our players. That’s the real story behind Games24x7. 

Inc42: Do you see AI as a disrupting force for gaming and Games24x7?

Trivikraman Thampy: We have never seen the evolution of technology as obstacles. In fact, the advancements have aided and driven growth for us. We were the one of the first to launch a mobile rummy game. We derived huge advantages from this becoming the number one rummy operator in the country.

Games24x7 was among the first in the country to leverage the power of machine learning to build our own in-house personalisation engine which has now naturally evolved into the age of AI as an intelligent personalisation engine. And now AI is helping us improve both our speed and efficiency of operations across departments from analytics to customer service and even brand. 

Today, we have one of the most extensive technology teams in the industry, comprising dedicated data scientists committed to creating innovative solutions and systems. Their focus is on proactively addressing  challenges and problems not only for today but that may emerge in the future as well. We are invested in  leveraging behavioural science and technology, like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data  science to create an unparalleled gaming experience across platforms. 

[Edited By Nikhil Subramaniam]