Gaming
MPL launches India’s first indigenous shooter game Rogue Heist
MUMBAI: Mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) has partnered with Mumbai-based game developer Lifelike Studios to launch Rogue Heist, India’s first indigenous multi-player online shooter game exclusively on the MPL app, ahead of other platforms. Rogue Heist is developed by Lifelike Studios and backed by Bollywood actor-producer Arbaaz Khan and Time2play Gaming Studios.
Rogue Heist is one of the first multi-player Esports on the MPL platform and will see users face off against each other, with cash prizes for grabs for each battle and tournament. MPL currently has over 40 games on its platform. The idea behind Rogue Heist is to create a unique experience of a heist, which is intense, engaging, and fun in a truly competitive real-time multi-player environment.
The game mode on MPL is Rogue Heist- BRAWL – a super-fast, action-packed Esport mode. Each game lasts only seven minutes in which 10 players are pitted against each other to steal the maximum amount of money. Here, the players get the real feel of a heist, yet come out top gainers based on their individual performance. Based on the leaderboard, top players will win cash prizes on MPL, making it a virtual cash heist with real money for takes.
Mobile Premier League co-founder Shubh Malhotra said: “Rogue Heist is a very exciting and engaging game and we are glad that it is launching exclusively on MPL, even before the Google Play Store. The graphics, gameplay, and the overall experience is top notch and our users are going to have the time of their lives, participating in a virtual cash heist. Lifelike Studios has done a great job optimising the game for our platform and we look forward to working with them to take Esports to all corners of the country.”
“MPL has been our first choice for collaboration from the beginning. With the opportunity of exclusively launching on MPL (for real money awards), I am happy that we overcame many challenges by deep collaboration between both our teams. The biggest challenge was to reduce the size of the game from 1.5 GB to 450 MB for MPL users while still being able to provide the true Rogue Heist experience. As this is a live game, we plan on providing constant updates to keep MPL users engaged,” said Lifelike Studios CEO Ashish Beuria.
“Rogue Heist will be a game changer, which is made in India. Our team is really excited and happy to launch the Esports version of Rogue Heist on MPL, as it gives us the opportunity to engage with their massive playerbase and geographical reach all over India and Indonesia, while at the same time providing an exciting, edge-of-the-seat shooting game experience to MPL players,” said Bollywood Actor and Producer Arbaaz Khan.
About MPL
Founded in 2018, MPL is India’s largest Mobile Gaming and Esports platform. It has grown to over 40 million registered users and currently has over 40 games, including titles like FreeFire and World Cricket Championship. MPL also has multiple gaming studios and developers as partners to publish their games on its platform. MPL’s app is available on both Android and iOS.
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.
