The archive · Consumer Apps · Strategic decision · 2018–2025
MPL's real-money gaming bet: $2.3B unicorn, 28% GST, 2025 ban, then a profitable pivot
MPL bet Indians would pay to enter skill-game tournaments; a 28% GST and a 2025 ban killed the model, but Europe's GameDuell made the group profitable.
Mobile Premier League (MPL) · M-League
What the business is
MPL runs a mobile gaming platform where users pay entry fees to enter tournaments across 60+ games — esports, casual and fantasy sports — with winners paid from pooled entry money; it also publishes third-party games.
Starting capital：$90M Series C (Sep 2020), $95M Series D at $945M (Feb 2021), then $150M at $2.3B in Sep 2021; more than $225M raised by early 2021.
How it started
Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra founded MPL in Bengaluru in 2018, betting that mobile esports would become India's next mass entertainment and that users would pay small entry fees to compete for prize pools. Growth was explosive: the company claimed the fastest app to 1M daily active users in India, signed Virat Kohli early, and passed 60M users and 2B+ cash transactions by September 2020.
What happened
The funding followed the growth: $90M Series C led by SIG, RTP Global and MDI Ventures (Sep 2020); $95M Series D at a $945M valuation (Feb 2021); and $150M at $2.3B, making it India's second gaming unicorn (Sep 2021). In 2022 it bought Germany's card-and-board-game studio GameDuell and incubated Mayhem Studios. Then the regulatory floor moved: from October 2023 India taxed online real-money gaming at 28% of gross value, and MPL laid off 350 employees in August 2023, shut its web3 fantasy platform Striker in December 2023, and consolidated its GGX investment.
How it ended up
After India's 2025 Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill and a blanket ban on real-money games, MPL suspended money contests in India and reportedly began cutting 60–80% of its India team. Yet the group (renamed M-League) posted its first profitable year in FY25: net profit of $4.2M on operating revenue of $166.7M, up 30%, with Europe — GameDuell — growing 66.9% to $60M while India revenue grew just 14%. The Hurun 2025 report removed MPL from India's unicorn list.
Background
MPL, founded in Bengaluru in 2018 by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra, bet that Indians would pay entry fees to compete in mobile tournaments. It positioned real-money gaming as esports and games of skill, not betting: a pure-play platform hosting 60+ games and fantasy sports, with Virat Kohli signed as brand ambassador when the company was three months old. Growth was extreme — the company claimed the fastest app to 1M daily active users in India, 60M+ users and 2B+ cash transactions by September 2020.
Investors paid up accordingly: $90M (Series C, Sep 2020), $95M at $945M (Feb 2021), and $150M at $2.3B in September 2021, making MPL India's second gaming unicorn. In 2022 it acquired Germany's GameDuell. Then the model's legal foundation cracked: from October 2023, India taxed online real-money gaming at 28% of gross value; MPL cut 350 jobs in August 2023, shut its web3 fantasy platform Striker, and consolidated GGX.
In 2025 India passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill and banned real-money games; MPL suspended money contests at home and reportedly moved to cut 60–80% of its India team. The parent group, renamed M-League, still posted its first profitable year in FY25 — net profit of $4.2M on revenue of $166.7M — because Europe's GameDuell grew 66.9% to $60M. The Hurun 2025 report dropped MPL from India's unicorn list, closing the arc from national champion to policy casualty to regional survivor.
What has to be true
- Everything depended on the 'game of skill' legal doctrine, a regulatory judgment the company could not control.
- Real scale was achieved — 90M users and the fastest app to 1M DAU in India — but monetization ran through pooled real-money stakes, exactly what the GST and the 2025 bill targeted.
- India was about 60% of revenue, so one regulatory shift hit most of the business at once.
- The GameDuell acquisition, made while India was booming, became the hedge that delivered the first group profit when India closed.
- Investor markdowns reflected policy risk rather than operating performance — FY25 was MPL's most profitable year on record.
What can be applied
When the model depends on what regulators call 'skill', the real bet is policy: 90M users and a $2.3B valuation could not survive a 28% tax and a ban; recovery came from outside the regulator's reach.
Aftermath
As of October 2025 M-League was profitable but reshaped: FY25 net profit of $4.2M on revenue of $166.7M, with Europe (35.7% of revenue) the growth engine after MPL suspended money contests in India. Moneycontrol reported MPL was significantly downsizing its India team — potentially 60–80% of roughly 500–600 roles — while still claiming 90M+ registered users. Advertising spend still rose 32.8% to $70.5M in FY25, and the Hurun 2025 report removed MPL from India's unicorn list. It kept operating, but as a smaller, more international business than the $2.3B national champion of 2021.
Sources
- Indian mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League raises $90 million
- Indian gaming platform Mobile Premier League valued at $945M in $95M fundraise
- Gaming platform MPL's parent firm sees 30% revenue jump in FY25; turns profitable
- Hurun Report 2025: Dream11, Gameskraft And Other RMG Startups Drop Out Of Unicorn League
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