Gaming
BGMS 4 drops with Rs 1.5 crore loot, fresh faces and fierce inclusivity
MUMBAI: Drop in, loot up, and get ready for the chaos. BGMS is back, and it’s bigger than ever. Nodwin Gaming has unleashed Season 4 of the Oneplus Android Battlegrounds Mobile India Masters Series, airing live on Star Sports Khel and JioHotstar daily from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM until 14 September, with a staggering Rs 1.5 crore prize pool on the line.
But it’s not just about the loot this time. The tournament has levelled up with the launch of the Battlegrounds Mobile India Challenger Series (BGCS), the official amateur feeder league into the BGMS. Featuring 24 squads including 2 campus champs from the Oneplus Campus Dominate qualifiers, 1 team from TVS Raider Wicked Battles, 17 invited rosters, and a historic 4 all-women line-ups the Challenger Series is bringing fresh blood and fearless energy to Indian esports. Matches stream live on Nodwin’s Youtube channel from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm every day.
“BGMS has become more than a tournament; it’s a cultural movement,” said Nodwin Gaming co-founder and MD Akshat Rathee. “Season 4 champions inclusivity at every level, from campus qualifiers to all-women teams on national television.”
Title sponsor Oneplus is back for another round, powering gameplay with its flagship Oneplus 13 and Nord series. Android continues as co-title sponsor, while TVS Motor Company rides in as official mobility partner for a third year running with its TVS Raider Wicked Battles initiative.
New faces join the fray too Duolingo English Test debuts as official learning partner, rolling out even a Gujarati-language feed, while Swiggy steps in as official food delivery partner, keeping players and crews fed through marathon matchdays. Red Bull fuels players for a second year, while Bisleri makes its debut as Hydration Partner.
The BGCS runs till 7 September, setting the stage for BGMS Season 4’s finale stretch. With esports on primetime TV and national brands stacking up behind the action, BGMS isn’t just gaming anymore, it’s India’s newest sporting spectacle.
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.
