Pokerbaazi, backed by India’s first and only listed online gaming firm, has ceased offering offering online games played with money, after the government outlawed such apps.
As a matter of “abundant caution” and with due respect to the government’s online gaming law, Pokerbaazi operator Moonshine Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has ceased offering real money online gaming operations, Nazara Technologies Ltd. said in an exchange filing on Friday.
The listed company, backed by marquee investors like Nikhil Kamath and Madhusudan Kela and previously Rekha Jhunjhunwala, holds 46.7% stake Moonshine Technologies.
Nazara’s $122 million investment in PokerBaazi stands to be written down or provisioned for now, Chief Executive Officer Nitish Mittersain had told Bloomberg on Thursday. The firm sees no impact on its revenue or EBITDA since Moonshine’s revenue is not consolidated in the company’s financial statements.
On Thursday, the Parliament cleared the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, to prohibit promotion and operation of online money gaming apps. The move threatens the $3.8 billion sector that supports about 200,000 jobs, according to industry bodies. The associations representing the firms have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that a ban would benefit illegal offshore gambling operators.
The implementation of the bill would “essentially make online real money gaming infeasible in India,” ICICI Securities wrote in a note.
Mittersain said PokerBaazi’s team will meet shortly to discuss ideas to pivot the business, including international expansion or technology licensing.
The bill also formally recognizes esports as a sport, a positive for Nodwin Gaming in which Nazara Technologies holds a stake.
Nazara owns games such as Kiddopia, Animal Jam and World Cricket Championship, none of which will be affected by the new law. In the three months through June, the company doubled its revenues from the previous year. None of that revenue comes from real money gaming, the CEO said.
“This does not destabilise our business in any way—we can continue operating without any disruption,” Mittersain said. “Once in a while we take a moonshot, we need those to move the needle, we will take this in stride and move ahead.”
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