Gaming
India’s top five gaming stars gather for DreamHack India 2024 in Hyderabad
Mumbai: DreamHack India, the country’s largest gaming festival, is set to electrify Hyderabad from 15-17 November 2024, celebrating its fifth anniversary. This year, DreamHack will share the stage with Hyderabad Comic Con, India’s top pop culture festival, combining gaming, esports, technology, and cosplay with the best of pop culture for an epic three-day event.
Since its inception, DreamHack India has become a staple in the gaming and esports landscape. This year’s festival will feature exclusive meet-and-greet sessions, tournaments, and interactive activities with the nation’s biggest gaming stars, brought together through a partnership between NODWIN Gaming and 8Bit Creatives.
Meet India’s Five Gaming Titans at DreamHack India 2024:
1. Naman Mathur (Mortal): The co-founder of S8UL and a prominent name in Indian esports, Mortal, has redefined gaming success with six global Esports Awards nominations. Known for major achievements like BMPS Season one and PUBG Mobile India Series, Mortal is a true icon, even representing the gaming industry in a meeting with prime minister Modi.
2. Payal Dhare (Payal Gaming): Breaking gender barriers, Payal Gaming rose from casual play to become one of India’s top gaming creators. With millions of followers and a story that encourages women across the country, Payal has inspired countless fans and is poised to bring her infectious energy to DreamHack India.
3. Raj Varma (Snax Gaming): Hailing from Hyderabad, Snax is a local favourite and an influential figure in the gaming community. His career spans representation at the PUBG Mobile World League 2020: East and the promotion of healthy gaming with his “Fit Gamers” initiative, countering stereotypes of gaming lifestyles.
4. Kaashvi Hiranandani (KaashPlays): Known for her empowering role in female gaming, KaashPlays left her finance job during the COVID-19 lockdown to chase her passion. With millions of followers, she advocates for women in esports and inspires others to pursue gaming careers.
5. Salman Ahmad (8Bit Mamba): Beginning with PC games and transitioning to mobile gaming, Mamba found success streaming BGMI and GTA V. His journey reflects determination, with family support growing after seeing his accomplishments. Mamba’s love for football adds depth to his gaming persona.
Attendees can enjoy DreamHack x Hyderabad Comic Con with a single ticket, available on Insider.in and Paytm, as well as through the official websites of DreamHack India and Comic Con India.
Gaming
Dream Sports sees 100 plus exits after gaming ban forces overhaul
Company splits into eight units as real money gaming law hits revenue.
MUMBAI: For a company built on fantasy leagues, reality has suddenly rewritten the rulebook. More than 100 employees have exited Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, after the company reorganised its operations following India’s ban on real money online gaming. The shake up came after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force in August 2025, prohibiting games where users deposit money expecting winnings. The regulation struck at the heart of the fantasy gaming industry and dramatically affected Dream Sports’ core business, wiping out about 95 percent of its revenue and all of its profits.
In response, the Mumbai based company shifted into what chief executive officer Harsh Jain described as “startup mode”, splitting its operations into eight independent business units in December.
Around 700 employees were reassigned across these newly formed ventures based on their experience and interests. However, roughly 15 percent opted to leave the company.
A spokesperson for Dream Sports said many of those who exited were experienced professionals accustomed to running scaled businesses rather than early stage ventures.
“Since some of these employees were experienced with running high scale businesses and not startups, around 15 percent chose to leave and join other scaled companies or start ventures of their own,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the departures, the company noted that the attrition rate is only slightly higher than its earlier level of around 10 percent before the ban. Dream Sports now has close to 950 employees and is not currently hiring, choosing instead to focus on stabilising its existing workforce.
The restructuring has transformed Dream Sports from a fantasy gaming company into a broader sports entertainment platform. The eight units now operate independently, each focusing on different segments of the sports and technology ecosystem.
These include Dream11, sports streaming platform Fancode, sports travel service DreamSetGo, mobile game Dream Cricket and artificial intelligence initiative Dream Sports AI, which includes sports analytics platform Dream Play.
Other ventures include fintech product Dream Money, open source initiative Dream Horizon and the philanthropic arm Dream Sports Foundation.
As part of cost saving efforts, Dream Sports also relocated its headquarters from Bandra Kurla Complex to Worli earlier this year. The new office, called Dream Sports Stadium, brings teams from its various brands together under one roof to improve collaboration and operational efficiency.
Jain had earlier said the company removed bonus lock in timelines for employees hired in recent years, allowing those who wished to leave to exit with pro rata payouts.
“We want people who are fully into the startup mode and willing to work for it, and we will share that reward if it comes,” he said.
Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports was last valued at 8 billion dollars after raising 840 million dollars in 2021 from investors including Falcon Edge Capital, DST Global, D1 Capital Partners, RedBird Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, TPG and Footpath Ventures.
The new gaming law has forced several companies in the fantasy gaming sector to either shut down or pivot their business models, signalling a significant reset for one of India’s fastest growing digital entertainment industries.
