Online Gamers

Dream11 exits fantasy gaming, pivots to sports-entertainment platform

The redesigned platform will offer creator-led live match watch-alongs, features for fans to react and exchange comments in real time, and free-to-play fantasy sports

RMG ban a wake-up call for the industry to rethink what is game building

As India bans real-money gaming, investors and studios turn to building creative and community-driven games, signalling a shift from gambling-style apps to genuine game development

Zupee to lay off 170 employees after ban on money-based online games

Gurugram-based company latest to trim team, says it will focus on social games and entertainment products

Games24X7 to lay off 70% staff after govt ban on money-based online games

Digital gaming company Games24X7 has started the process to lay off around 70 per cent or around 500 employees, following the government's ban on all forms of money-based online games, sources aware of the development said. An email query sent to the company elicited no reply. "There were around 700 to 750 employees at Games24X7. The company is now laying off around 70 per cent of them. Around 500 people may be impacted," a source aware of the development said. The lay-off information was also confirmed by a company staff member who said "the majority of employees" are being laid off, but could not mention the exact number of people to be impacted. Several companies that were engaged in the real-money gaming business have started laying off the majority of their staff. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, passed by Parliament on August 21, bars all forms of online money games while promoting e-sports and other online games. The Act seeks to prohibit advertise

India's gaming ban vs the world: How other nations regulate online gambling

As India bans real-money gaming, nations from Britain to China show contrasting approaches of regulation, restrictions or outright prohibition

Govt plans to enforce prohibition clauses first post Online Gaming Bill nod

The government is considering enforcing the 'prohibition clauses' first up, ahead of other sections, once the Online Gaming Bill gets President's nod and is notified, IT Secretary S Krishnan has said, adding that work has, meanwhile, already commenced on drafting rules for the other provisions of the legislation. Krishnan told PTI in an interview that the proposed rules in the works will provide a framework for promotion and regulation of e-sports and online social games, as well as the constitution of the regulatory authority envisaged in the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. Parliament has passed the bill to ban all forms of games played with money, and promote e-sports and online social gaming, with the Rajya Sabha on Thursday approving it without debate amid din. The government has asserted that online money gaming has become a serious social and public health issue, causing demonstrable negative impact on society. At the same time, the Centre has thrown its

India's online gaming ban may fuel offshore betting, money laundering

With fantasy sports, putting real money behind players' on-field performance has been elevated to a game of skill, at least in the eye of the law

Over 84,000 Indian gaming accounts leaked in 2024, says Kaspersky

Over 84,000 online gaming account user details were leaked in India in 2024, the global cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky on Tuesday said. The maximum number of leaks of gaming account user details was witnessed in Thailand, the minimum such instances were in Singapore in the Asia-Pacific (APAC)Region, it said. The APAC region has emerged as the global epicentre of gaming, with more than half of the world's gamers based here. Markets such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the rapidly growing economies of Southeast Asia contribute significantly to this dominance. According to Kaspersky, Thailand recorded 1,62,892 leaked cases, followed by the Philippines with 99,273, Vietnam 87,969, India 84,262, Indonesia 69,909, Malaysia 37,718, South Korea 37,097, China 18,786, Sri Lanka 10,877, and Singapore 4,262 leaked cases, the company said. The company further said that 11 million gaming account credentials were leaked last year. The region's rapid digital adoptio

Garena Free Fire Max: Here are June 4 redeem codes to win rewards, diamonds

Garena Free Fire Max has released redeem codes for June 4. Here is a detailed guide to redeem them

India's online gaming sector may cross $9 billion by 2029: Report

The online gaming sector in India is expected to grow by over two-fold to USD 9.1 billion by 2029, largely dominated by real money games, a joint report by real money gaming platform WinZO Games and IEIC said on Wednesday. The report, released at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, said India's online gaming market revenue was USD 3.7 billion in 2024, with the real money gaming segment accounting for around 86 per cent market share. "The online gaming industry in India is on an unprecedented growth path, backed by a projected market size of USD 9.1 billion by 2029 and the potential to unlock up to USD 63 billion in investor value by 2029. As we continue to push boundaries in technology innovation, IP creation, and engagement, WinZO remains committed to shaping India into a global gaming powerhouse," WinZO co-founder Paavan Nanda said. According to the data shared in the report, India is home to 591 million gamers -- about 20 per cent of the total global gamers, ..

Gaming federations tie up to enforce code of ethics for user safety

Under the code of ethics framework, all gaming companies will implement strict age-gating norms, have robust know-your-consumer norms, ensure appropriate safeguards for gamers' data

PlayStation network outage affects thousands of gamers, Sony informs on 'X'

Downdetector data showed users of popular titles such as Call of Duty and Fortnite began reporting outages since Friday. At one stage the number of PlayStation incident reports reached over 14,000

Nvidia founder unveils new technology for gamers, creators at CES 2025

In a packed Las Vegas arena, Nvidia founder Jensen Huang stood on stage and marvelled over the crisp real-time computer graphics displayed on the screen behind him. He watched as a dark-haired woman walked through ornate gilded double doors and took in the rays of light that poured in through stained glass windows. The amount of geometry that you saw was absolutely insane, Huang told an audience of thousands at CES 2025 Monday night. It would have been impossible without artificial intelligence. The chipmaker and AI darling unveiled its GeForce RTX 50 Series desktop and laptop GPUs its most advanced consumer graphics processor units for gamers, creators and developers. The tech is designed for use on both desktop and laptop computers. Ahead of Huang's speech, Nvidia stock climbed 3.4 per cent to top its record set in November. Nvidia and other AI stocks keep climbing even as criticism rises that their stock prices have already shot too high, too fast. Despite worries about a ...

HP launches AI-enhanced laptops designed for gamers, content creators

HP on Friday launched its range of AI-enhanced laptops designed for gamers and content creators in Bengaluru. HP India Senior Director of Consumer Sales Vineet Gehani, who was in Bengaluru to launch the laptops, told PTI that AI enhanced laptops will not only improve the processing power of the PC or laptop, but will also improve the battery life. For instance, AI will judge how much battery power is required for specific actions and will thus use accordingly, increasing the life of battery, Gehani said. The newly launched laptops include the Omen Transcend 14 and HP Envy x360 14. The AI features include NVIDIA RTX GE4060 Graphics card, Microsoft Co-pilot and Intel NPU (neural processing unit). These will help people to effortlessly handle compute-intensive tasks," Gehani said. "Besides this, HP's own AI-enhanced audio and video features are also available. It improves your calling experience. For instance, even if you are moving around while making a video call, the AI-enhanced .

Over 40% of real-money gamers in India from non-metro regions, says Meta

Highlighting the growing popularity of gaming in India, a study by social media firm Meta said nearly half of casual gamers and 43 per cent of real-money gamers come from non-metro geographies. A study by Meta GWI showed that more than three of four casual and real-money gamers in the country discover new games to play and purchase on social media, and more than 90 per cent of these do so on Meta platforms. "Gaming is a top three vertical for Meta globally and we are particularly seeing our Advantage+ suite of automated ads drive growth for gaming brands," said Arun Srinivas, Director and Head (India), Ads Business, Meta. Srinivas added that gaming is poised to play a leading role in India's techade. The study revealed that 6 in 10 smartphone gamers game daily, and almost 90 per cent of real-money gamers take part in such activities at least weekly. "Nearly half of casual gamers and 43 per cent of real-money gamers come from non-metro geographies," it said. The study observed tha

ED makes two fresh arrests in Mahadev betting app money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two more persons in connection with its money laundering investigation into the Mahadev online betting and gaming app case, officials said on Saturday. Nitin Tibrewal and Amit Agrawal were taken into custody under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and produced before a special court in Raipur on Friday, ED lawyer Saurabh Pandey said. The court sent them to ED custody till January 17, he said. Tibrewal is alleged to be a "close associate" of an accused in the case, Vikash Chapparia. He is alleged to have purchased some "undisclosed" properties in Dubai and a majority shareholder in an FPI company in which Chapparia is also a shareholder, ED sources said. The agency suspects these assets were bought using the "proceeds of crime" generated from the profits of Mahadev app. Amit Agrawal, the sources said, is a relative of another accused in the case, Anil Kumar Agrawal. Amit Agrawal is alleged to have received M

Logging in: New career path as esports gain recognition in multisport event

It has been a year since esport was officially recognised as a multisport event in India. For many, it has since become a career option

Online gamers leak US military secrets to War Thunder forums: Report

The gamers leaked the details during discussions about the game developed by Gaijin Entertainment, a Budapest-based company with distinct Russian origins

Over 50% Indian gamers see a career in gaming, shows HP India study

The company has introduced the HP Gaming Garage, a free-of-cost online professional certificate program on Esports management and Game development

India among top 5 markets, gamers more willing to pay: Krafton India CEO

India is among the top five markets for PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India maker Krafton, even though the country has less than 10 per cent of its total user-base paying for games, company's India business head Sean Hyunil Sohn said. Krafton India CEO Sohn told PTI that India is among the top three markets for the company in terms of user base and the willingness to pay among the gamers is rising. "India is a long-term play for us. The market goes at least 10 or 15 per cent per year. We want to maintain our position and grow with the market. India is among the top five markets for us and in terms of user base it is within the top three," Sohn said. Currently, the company runs Battleground Mobile India (BGMI) shooting game in India, similar to PUBG which was banned by the government in September 2020. The government had ordered to block BGMI but allowed it to re-launch the game in May. Sohn said that Krafton's paid user-base and average revenue per user in India is comparatively l