The curtains have come down on real-money gaming, but even before the dust could settle on India’s multi-billion-dollar RMG turf, the industry’s next act is beginning to unfold.

While they shut down their real-money gaming business within days of the Supreme Court slapping a blanket ban on games of luck, many of them scrambled to the consumer-tech vertical – be it short-form entertainment or wealthtech – to stay in the bigger play.

A couple of months after Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, the legislation officially came into force on October 1, signalling a decisive shift in India’s stance on real-money gaming. The government defended the move, citing that nearly 450 Mn Indians were collectively losing around INR 20,000 Cr on real-money games every year.

The law banned all such games, prohibited advertising, and barred banks and financial institutions from processing related transactions, effectively freezing a once-vibrant $2.4 Bn market that had cradled home-grown unicorns like Dream11, MPL and Games24x7. The diktat came as a lethal blow to an industry saddled with a 28% GST levy from 2023.

Inc42 went on the trail of gaming biggies after the whip cracked. While smaller players have withered away, major platforms have pivoted to social and casual gaming. “What many startups spend years building in terms of core capabilities, these companies already have that,” said an investor in a real-money gaming firm, refusing to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. “When their main business becomes unsustainable, it’s only natural to pivot to another consumer-tech opportunity. That’s exactly what we’re seeing – new products built on old strengths.”

WinZO and Zupee have ventured into microdramas. Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, has turned to wealthtech with Dream Money, an investment platform launched soon after the ban. Earlier this month, WinZO, which has taken its microdramas to the US, widened its portfolio by rolling out ZO Gold, a micro-investment app that lets the user invest in digital gold as little as INR 2.

Zupee, on the other hand, claimed that its Zupee Studio has crossed 10 Mn downloads on Google Play within months and plans to upload seven original series by the year-end.

But, as the sector recalibrates itself, a larger question looms: How sustainable are these hurried pivots as the government is keen on ending India’s high-stakes digital gamble?

“These platforms have little choice but to find an........

© Inc42