Gaming
GEMS | Monetisation, improved experiences required to level-up e-gaming in India: Dhaval Ponda
NEW DELHI: Gaming and e-sports is swiftly going mainstream in India and for the industry, it’s only onward and upwards from here. PUBG ban not withstanding, the sector is giving stiff competition to major sporting events while simultaneously attracting broadcasters, aggregators, players, and viewers – all the markers of a robust ecosystem of growth and success.
However, there are still certain areas that need work in order to fully tap into the industry’s potential. At the first Gaming, E-sports, and More Summit (GEMS), presented by indiantelevision.com and AnimationXpress.com, co-powered by Tata Communications, this hot-button issue was taken up and thoroughly examined by industry experts.
Opening the two-day-long virtual summit with his keynote address, Tata Communications global head media and entertainment Dhaval Ponda shed light on the emerging trends, growth drivers, and barriers impacting the Indian e-sports and gaming industry.
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While the Indian gaming crowd is growing at a faster click than the global community, it is still not getting the right monetisation and publishing support within the country, says Ponda. Indian gamers today make for 15 per cent of the global total but the domestic market size is less than 1 per cent in value. Indian game publishers are only 3 per cent of the global value.
Though he insisted that things have started improving since 2018, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the sector of broadcasting and monetisation.
“We are seeing that e-sports gaming content is now being treated by these broadcasters as good as tier-1 traditional sports, and is being watched by millions of viewers. So, you (broadcasters) are also going to attract the same rights-holding fee that you would charge from tier-1 sports, like cricket and football,” stated Ponda.
Broadcasts will not only be crucial to gauge interest and get tongues wagging about e-sports,but also sustain andreinforce the community, he explained.
He added that the platforms also need to consider what else they can do beside streaming e-sports live to grab eyeballs, and make it an wholesome experience for viewers as well as the gaming community. “If you are investing, try and understand how you can be unique in your content. Ask yourself if you can have content outside of just gaming,” said Ponda. To drive his point home, he added: “For example, the way you document the NBA champions. Everyone knows where the player was born, what their history is.”
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Ponda insisted that a similar culture needs to be developed for players in e-sports and gaming categories too. “People want to know who they (the players) are and where they are coming from. It is the sort of content that also sustains engagement and active viewership.”
User-experience is also going to be a crucial factor in promoting and supporting the community. “The digital infrastructure needs to grow leaps and bounds in terms of broadband and mobile internet availability. Furthermore, a sound cloud architecture, transcoding infrastructure and CDN infrastructure is required to have a good viewing experience,” he said.
Artistic and technical talent for the game development side is quite crucial too, Ponda pointed out, and suggested that the industry take inspiration from gaming studios in LA, London, and south Korea to finetune the culture within 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.
