The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2022–2025
SuperGaming's Indus bet: India-made battle royale launches #2, then $15M at $100M
Pune studio SuperGaming bet India would embrace a homegrown battle royale; Indus launched Oct 2024 with 14M pre-registrations, then raised $15M to go global.
SuperGaming
What the business is
A mobile game studio whose flagship is Indus Battle Royale, a free-to-play Indo-futuristic battle royale on Android and iOS, alongside the earlier shooter MaskGun.
Starting capital：$5M Series A at a $21M valuation in 2021, then a $15M Series B at ~$100M in Aug 2025 (YourStory/PTI).
How it started
Pune-based SuperGaming, led by CEO Roby John and known for the shooting game MaskGun, revealed Indus with a trailer in January 2022 as an Indo-futuristic battle royale. The studio's bet was that India's young gamers would embrace a AAA-quality shooter that expressed Indian art and culture rather than only importing Western or East-Asian titles; IGN India's early previews praised the game's Indian-inspired lore as its strongest point.
What happened
An open beta went live in August 2024, and by the time the launch date was announced in October 2024 the game had amassed 12.5M Android pre-registrations. Indus launched on Android and iOS on October 16, 2024, reaching #2 on Google Play's free action-game charts with more than 14M pre-registrations, topping iOS free charts, and kicking off an esports push with an INR 2.5 crore prize pool — described as the largest in Indian battle royale history.
How it ended up
Still live and expanding: on Aug 6, 2025 SuperGaming raised $15M at an enterprise valuation of about $100M — roughly five times its 2021 round — led by Skycatcher and Steadview Capital with participation from a16z Speedrun, Bandai Namco's 021 Fund and Neowiz. The company plans to launch Indus in Latin America with esports organisation LOUD.GG and says it is pursuing a hyper-local strategy for under-represented cultures in other emerging markets.
Background
SuperGaming, a Pune studio led by co-founder and CEO Roby John, had already built the online shooter MaskGun when it set out to make Indus, an Indo-futuristic battle royale. The bet was that Indian gamers would rally behind a homegrown, AAA-quality shooter whose characters, weapons and lore came from Indian culture — an explicit alternative to the imported battle royales that dominated Indian app stores.
Indus was revealed with a trailer in January 2022, and IGN India's early coverage called its Indian-inspired lore the game's strongest quality. An open beta ran from August 2024, and by early October the game had collected 12.5 million pre-registrations on Android alone. SuperGaming also built hype through pre-launch esports tournaments, so the October 16, 2024 launch on Android and iOS arrived with a ready community.
Launch day coverage by India Today Gaming reported 14M+ pre-registrations, a #2 ranking on Google Play's free action-game charts, and a top position in the iOS free charts, alongside an INR 2.5 crore esports prize pool billed as the largest in Indian battle royale history. The game monetises through in-game purchases such as the Nuclear Diwali battle pass.
On August 6, 2025 SuperGaming raised $15 million at about a $100 million enterprise valuation — nearly five times its $21 million valuation in a 2021 round — from Skycatcher and Steadview Capital, with a16z Speedrun, Bandai Namco's 021 Fund and Neowiz also participating. The stated plan is global expansion: launching Indus in Latin America with LOUD.GG and applying the same hyper-local playbook to under-represented cultures elsewhere, since Roby John told PTI that monetisation in emerging markets is roughly three times better than in India.
What has to be true
- SuperGaming went against the industry pattern of Indian studios doing outsourced work for foreign publishers, betting an original Indian AAA IP could win at home.
- The cultural wedge created a launch spike no imported game could match: 12.5M–14M pre-registrations before the game even went live.
- The esports push (INR 2.5 crore prize pool, Indus International Mahasangram in October 2025) gave players a reason to stay beyond launch-day curiosity.
- The follow-on logic was global: a homegrown hero has limited paying scale in India, so the same playbook had to travel to Latin America and other emerging markets.
What can be applied
Cultural IP and a launch spike get attention, but a small studio needs global, better-monetising markets to turn a homegrown hit into economics that sustain it.
Aftermath
As of August 6, 2025, Indus is live on Android and iOS and SuperGaming remains private at about a $100M valuation after its Series B. The capital is earmarked for expansion — starting in Latin America with LOUD.GG — and for offering its backend technology to developers in emerging markets. PC and console versions were earlier promised; the esports calendar points to the Indus International Mahasangram in October 2025. The bet is still being tested: Indus proved it can draw tens of millions of pre-registrations in India; the open question is whether that converts into revenue abroad.
Sources
- Indus Battle Royale Finally Gets a Release Date After Different Beta Stages, Esports Tournaments and More
- Supergaming Officially Launches Indus Battle Royale for Android and iOS; How to Download and Features
- SuperGaming raises $15M in funding at 5 times higher valuation
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