In the first week of January, the central Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) released draft rules for online gaming in India. A self-regulatory body, mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) norms for verification and a grievance redressal mechanism are among the proposed rules.
In a press briefing, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for MeitY, said online gaming is “a very important piece of the startup ecosystem and a part of the goal of the one-trillion dollar economy”. India is home to a thriving gaming market: With 900 gaming companies and 500 million gamers, the market is projected to be worth $8.6 billion by 2027, up from $2.6 billion in 2022, according to gaming and interactive media fund Lumikai. The growing popularity of online gaming, especially during the Covid-19 years, spawned three unicorns last year—Dream11, MPL and Games24x7.