Gaming
S8UL partners with KRAFTON for official launch of Bullet Echo India
Mumbai: S8UL, an esports organisation has partnered with KRAFTON, the creators of the popular battle royale game – Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), for the official launch of their latest game, Bullet Echo India.
Bullet Echo India is a multiplayer PvP tactical top-down shooter game, that invites players to form teams, devise strategies, and engage in adrenaline-fueled battles to emerge as the last team standing, similar to a battle royale.
S8UL’s lineup of renowned creators, including Mortal, Scout, Regaltos, Snax, JokerKiHaveli, PayalGaming, KaashPlays, and others, will create engaging content for their YouTube audiences during the official launch of Bullet Echo India. This collab is a mark of how S8UL and KRAFTON are always working together for bringing more life to the gaming experience in India. They had also collaborated for the launch of ‘Road to Valor : Empires’ early last year.
S8UL co-founder Lokesh Jain aka 8Bit Goldy, expressed his enthusiasm by stating, “We are delighted to partner with KRAFTON for the launch of Bullet Echo India, as this gives us another chance to bring new & enriching gaming experience to the community. With KRAFTON’s expertise and our deep understanding of the Indian gaming community, we are confident that Bullet Echo India will excite players across the country. I also look forward to it opening new avenues for esports athletes trying to make a mark in the competitive landscape”.
This partnership will enable KRAFTON to leverage the widespread, passionate fanbase, as well as the unique content of the organizations’ popular creators, to attract users across all demographics to the game.
Developed by KRAFTON in collaboration with ZeptoLab, Bullet Echo India is designed to captivate the Indian gaming community. Since its soft launch on 4 April, the game has rapidly ascended to the top of the charts on the Google Play Store, showcasing its immense popularity among Indian gamers.
“We are excited to join forces with S8UL for our Bullet Echo India. S8UL’s innovative approach has consistently set them apart, and their synergy is perfectly aligned with KRAFTON to deliver an unparalleled gaming experience that fans have been eagerly anticipating,” said India publishing advisor and KRAFTON India incubator programme head Anuj Sahani.
“The partnership between S8UL and KRAFTON for Bullet Echo India showcases our credibility and equity in the industry. As a player, I am particularly excited about the prospect of introducing Indian gamers to a unique gaming experience, offering a perfect blend of strategic gameplay and action-packed battles. I believe it is a must-play title for every gaming enthusiast and will make a significant impact in the Indian gaming market,” commented Tanmay Singh aka ScoutOP, an ex-Esports athlete who is currently a gaming creator of S8UL.
With S8UL’s co-founder Animesh Agarwal (8Bit Thug), alongside its creators PayalGaming, and Mortal recently engaging in a groundbreaking discussion with the honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, about the Esports industry, the organization continues to make waves for the development of the community. Their partnership with KRAFTON serves as a testament to their efforts to propel the growth of the Esports sector in India.
According to the FICCI-EY report titled ‘#Reinvent: India’s media & entertainment sector is innovating for the future,’ shooting games hold a prominent position in India, generating substantial in-app purchase revenues. Also, the rising popularity of gaming influencers has contributed to the expansion of the gaming ecosystem, attracting new cohorts of players.
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.
