Gaming
Battle royale hits prime time as BGMS Season 4 Grand Finals go live
MUMBAI: The battleground has shifted from mobile screens to the big stage, literally. The Oneplus Android Battlegrounds Mobile India Masters Series (BGMS) Season 4 Grand Finals fire up today at the Nodwin Gaming Arena in Delhi, where 16 of India’s finest esports teams will fight it out across 12 matches from 12–14 September for the championship crown and a cool Rs 1.5 crore prize pool.
This isn’t just another LAN event; it’s India’s only esports tournament with national TV presence, beaming live on Star Sports Khel and JioHotstar from 5 pm to 8 pm. For fans, that means three days of adrenaline-fuelled prime-time action.
The star-studded line-up includes league toppers Revenant Xspark, Team SouL, Gods Reign, and Nonx Esports, who qualified directly, joined by 12 hungry challengers from the semi-finals among them Godlike Esports, K9 Esports, Medal Esports, Phoenix Esports, Nebula Esports, and Sinewy Esports. Phoenix stole the show in the Playoffs with 58 points, while Godlike led the semi-finals with 92, setting up a tantalising clash of momentum and pedigree.
The season has been equally dramatic off the battleground. Oneplus returns as title sponsor and official smartphone partner, Android steps in as co-title sponsor, TVS Motor revs into its third consecutive year, while Red Bull, Swiggy, and Bisleri keep players fuelled. Duolingo English Test makes its debut as official learning partner, and Tesla will showcase its Model Y at the finals because why not add some horsepower to the firepower?
Nodwin Gaming co-founder and MD Akshat Rathee framed it as a milestone moment: “The fact that teams from the BGMI Challenger Series made it to the Grand Finals is proof that our grassroots-to-pro vision is working. Now, it’s time to see the very best of Indian esports on the biggest stage.”
With legacy orgs, rising stars, and the world watching, BGMS Season 4 is more than a tournament, it’s proof that Indian esports has levelled up. The only question is: who will drop in, loot up, and walk away with the crown?
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.
