MPL to lay off 60% of its India staff after government ban on paid games

• MPL shifts focus to free-to-play titles and expansion in the US market.
• India accounted for 50% of MPL’s revenues, which will now fall to zero in the near future.
• India’s VC-backed gaming industry, once projected to reach $3.6bn by 2029, has been rocked by the ban.

Indian gaming app Mobile Premier League is set to lay off around 60% of its local staff following the government’s ban on paid games.

MPL said it will cut approximately 300 of its 500 staff members in India across marketing, finance, operations, engineering, and legal, as it shifts its focus to free-to-play games and expands in the US market.

“With a heavy heart we have decided that we will be downsizing our India Team significantly," said MPL CEO Sai Srinivas in an internal staff email seen by Reuters. 

"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 added.

He did not specify the number of job cuts in the email.

Major setback 

The layoffs follow the Indian government’s recent ban on online paid games, citing financial and addiction risks among youths.

The ban stunned India’s VC-backed gaming industry, once projected to reach $3.6bn by 2029, with MPL and Dream11 popular for paid fantasy cricket. 

As a result, leading companies like Nazara have seen their valuations hit hard, with its market cap dropping by hundreds of millions from $1.5bn to about $1.24bn in just a month.

Elsewhere, the Indian Game Publishers and Developers Association (IGPDA) has launched as a unified voice for developers and publishers, backing Modi’s vision to make India a global games hub under the new Online Gaming Bill.