Top Indian startups in the real-money gaming space have begun shutting down operations after New Delhi effectively banned the sector through new legislation that’s now on the verge of becoming law. On Thursday, the upper house of the Indian Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 — proposing to completely ban real-money gaming while aiming to promote casual online games and e-sports. The vote came just a day after the bill cleared the lower house, leaving only presidential assent before it becomes law — a formality expected to happen soon. Shortly after the bill passed in the parliament, Indian unicorns Dream Sports and Mobile Premier League (MPL) — along with other startups like Gameskraft, Probo, and Zupee — began shutting down their real-money gaming operations. Some of these companies informed employees of their decision following the bill’s passage in the lower house on Wednesday, while others began notifying users directly through their apps. Dream Sports, which counts investors including Tiger Global, Multiples, Alpha Wave Global, and TCV, has shut down its recently launched quick-play fantasy gaming app, Dream Picks. Its other apps involving real-money transactions, including the widely-popular Dream11 and Dream Play, were still operational at the time of filing. However, TechCrunch has learned that the Mumbai-based startup plans to shut down its real-money gaming business entirely once the legislation comes into effect. At its town hall meeting on Wednesday, the startup informed its employees about the implications of the law, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, requesting anonymity as the meeting was internal. Indian site Entrackr reported some details about the meeting earlier. Dream Sports was planning to expand outside India, two people privy to the information informed TechCrunch, on condition of sharing it anonymously, as the plan was not public. The startup also had some partnership talks for its Indi...
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