Mobile Premiere League has grown at an explosive pace over the last three years. And it's not the fantasy games that are driving revenue. The twin superstars are Ludo and Carrom
(From left) Shubham Malhotra and Sai Srinivas, co-founders of Mobile Premier League, are now focusing on developing India-centric games
Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India
What are the three things that strike you most about the Mobile Premier League (MPL)? First, obviously, would be its name, which has a rhyming similarity with the IPL (Indian Premier League). Second, and no marks for guessing, would be the visual of former India cricket captain Virat Kohli dancing to a catchy jingle in a TV commercial that the online gaming and esports platform bombarded heavily during the 2019 IPL, just six months after the Bengaluru-based startup rolled out operations.
It is, however, the third thing that puts MPL in a league of its own. Its revenues. For FY19—the fiscal was just six months of operations as the startup officially opened account in September 2018—MPL’s number stood at ₹2.87 crore. The startup, which started with fruit-cutting and puzzle games along with a bunch of casual games like Ludo, added fantasy sports to its kitty in March 2019. Fast forward 12 months, and the revenues jumped to ₹22.5 crore in FY20.
(This story appears in the 17 June, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)