Ten years ago, influenced by rapid population growth, network infrastructure, hardware development, and foreign policies, the domestic internet industry experienced explosive growth and a trend of going global. From e-commerce and gaming to short videos and social networking, numerous internet companies sprang up like mushrooms after rain, marking their development milestones both domestically and internationally.
Today, in 2025, the Indian internet market is replicating the splendid development of the Chinese internet industry from a decade ago at an impressive speed. According to the latest data, India has become the most populous country globally, with over 750 million internet users, accounting for more than half of the total population. Among these internet users, 568 million are gamers, with a paying user rate of 25%. Authoritative data platforms predict that by 2032, gaming will become the largest entertainment expenditure category in India.
With rapid development, a vast user base, growing willingness to pay, and government support for the digital economy, India is swiftly advancing towards becoming the world's leading gaming market. This has attracted significant attention from investors worldwide and has gradually become a competitive battleground for global gaming manufacturers.
However, for most developers, venturing into an unfamiliar country or region to start from scratch is not an easy task. They face challenges such as different cultures, legal policies, and varied payment models. In this context, going it alone is hardly a winning strategy. Collaborating with local companies familiar with the local market environment makes it easier to truly navigate the complete chain from product launch to monetization.
Founded in 2018, M-League is the fastest-growing and most diverse gaming company in India. It is reported that its revenue in the fiscal year 2024 was 130 million USD, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 200% since its establishment, covering business across six continents including India, the USA, Europe, and Africa. Notably, after its Series E funding, M-League was valued at 2.3 billion USD, becoming the most vigorously developing unicorn company in the Indian gaming market.
A journey of a thousand miles begins in India.
In just three years, M-League has grown from zero to a unicorn company valued at 2.3 billion USD, a development speed that is impressive.
Turning back the clock to 2017-2020, not only was this the period when most Indians came online, but it was also a time of massive growth for the Indian gaming market. According to statistics, during these three years, the Indian mobile gaming market grew by 38%, reaching a market size of 2 billion USD by 2020. In contrast, the mobile gaming market growth in the USA and China was only 10% and 8%, respectively, in the same year.
However, compared to the vast market size, there were not many local gaming companies in India at that time.
According to third-party data reports, around 2018, local Indian games primarily consisted of real-money and card games, which accounted for two-thirds of the entire Indian gaming market. Between 2017 and 2018, the total revenue of the real-money gaming industry in India was approximately 14.3 billion RMB, with an annual growth rate of about 78%.
By 2020, the number of game developers in the Indian market was only about 200. In comparison, the number of gaming companies in China had reached nearly 400,000, with 199 of them going public in 2018.
When the mobile gaming market began to boom, but the market supply was far less than the growth in user demand, it undoubtedly presented an excellent opportunity to enter the market. Seeing this potential, Sai Srinivas decided to join forces with his friend Shubham Malhotra to establish a gaming company, which became the most crucial piece of the puzzle for MPL (Mobile Premier League).
It is worth mentioning that Sai is a serial entrepreneur with a rich history of startups and professional experience. Before founding MPL, he had established an internet company that had received investments from several leading investors, including Sequoia Capital, and was eventually acquired by the Indian messaging startup unicorn, Hike Messenger. This entrepreneurial venture not only accumulated initial capital for MPL but also garnered the favor of the capital market. It is reported that MPL had already received support from some existing companies, including Sequoia Capital, before its inception, and had raised funds.
If one were to follow the gaming trends at the time and combine the almost universal computer science education background in India, most entrepreneurs would choose to enter the market by developing skill-based games. However, at that time, MPL ventured into an unprecedented path—not game development or distribution, but a paid competitive mobile gaming platform that allowed users to participate in and organize various gaming events.
MPL's innovative model combined the appeal of casual competitive games with the monetization potential of real-money games, attracting a large number of esports players and users upon its launch. At the same time, to enhance users' trust in MPL, the company invited India's most famous cricketer, Virat Kohli, to be the brand ambassador and produced short films about game safety for its platform activities, emphasizing the safe gaming experience. To date, the collaboration between Virat Kohli and MPL has lasted for six years.
Thanks to the continuously accumulated trust, MPL reached 1 million daily active users within less than five months of its launch, and after one year, it achieved the milestone of "hosting 5 billion matches."
With this explosive growth, MPL completed two rounds of financing in February and September of the same year, and the company's valuation soared to 2.3 billion USD, officially developing into the more robust corporate entity M-League, initiating the expansion of its strategic map: such as acquiring Germany's fastest-growing and leading card and board game studio GameDuell, successfully securing a significant position in the European and American markets; sponsoring international sports events like the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Asian Games, with sponsorship amounts exceeding 800 million rupees, rapidly expanding its global market brand influence, etc.
"Based on the user base, add more games and businesses, and expand to more countries to maintain high-speed growth." The implementation of this strategy has led M-League's compound annual growth rate to exceed 200%. As of the fiscal year 2024, more than 30% of M-League's revenue came from outside India, and according to M-League's forecast, this proportion is expected to reach 50% by 2025.
Building a matrix of services, a diversified flywheel in motion
While enjoying the market dividends, M-League's development has not been smooth sailing, also experiencing sudden market changes.
Starting in 2023, the Indian gaming market reached an important turning point. First, India strengthened the regulation of local skill-based games, ushering in a golden era for Ads-type (casual/ultra-casual) and IAP-type (core games) games and the esports industry. Predictions indicate that by 2028, the revenue growth of Ads-type and IAP-type games will reach 20%.
Second, while India strengthened the regulation of game categories, it also enhanced tax regulation. In 2023, India introduced a new Goods and Services Tax, imposing a 28% indirect tax on skill-based games, which at the time accounted for about 80% of India's total game revenue. At the same time, coupled with global game market stock competition, economic impacts, and other factors, this brought significant challenges to both local Indian game manufacturers and external game developers. In its fiscal year 2024 financial report, M-League also mentioned that the new tax policy had increased its tax burden by 350%-400%.
However, the flip side of challenges is opportunities. The change in game trends has allowed more game categories to experience strong growth in India. According to authoritative data platforms such as Newzoo and Lumikai Reports, over 58% of users make in-game purchases, and looking at the broader gaming circle, the revenue capability of casual games in India has consistently improved, with revenue growth exceeding download growth for three consecutive years.
These all vividly demonstrate the willingness of Indian players to try new games. M-League also stated in its financial report that the Indian F2P market is now at the same level as the skill game category in 2018.
With the arrival of new market opportunities, M-League has also begun to "rebuild" its business. First, it transformed GameDuell's positioning into a cross-platform gaming community, focusing more on developing lightweight multiplayer games. Second, M-League also invested in establishing multiple local game studios, developing various free-to-play game categories such as shooting and battle games.
