Several of India’s leading real money gaming (RMG) companies—including Dream Sports, Gameskraft, Mobile Premier League (MPL), and Zupee—have begun suspending all paid games on their platforms after the government officially passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025.

The bill enforces a blanket ban on all online games involving monetary stakes, whether skill-based or chance-based. It also grants authorities the power to conduct warrantless searches and make arrests for suspected violations. According to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the legislation aims to protect society from the harms of gambling while continuing to promote e-sports and social gaming as innovation drivers.

Dream Sports has suspended all “Pay to Play” contests on Dream Picks—its recently launched fantasy sports platform—as well as on Dream Play, a casual RMG app. A notice on the Dream11 app stated: “In view of the recent development pertaining to the ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025’, we are pausing all 'Pay to Play' Fantasy Sports contests on our platform. Your account balance is safe and available for you to withdraw from the Dream11 app.”

Similarly, MPL, Zupee, and other major platforms have followed suit. Zupee, known for real-money board games, announced that while all paid games have been suspended, the platform remains fully operational with free-to-play options.

A Zupee spokesperson commented: “Zupee remains fully operational and our players can continue to enjoy their favourite games. In line with the new Online Gaming Bill 2025, we are discontinuing paid games, but our hugely popular free titles like Ludo Supreme, Ludo Turbo, Snakes & Ladders, and Trump Card Mania will continue to be available to all users at no cost.”

The passage of the bill marks a significant regulatory shift in India's rapidly growing online gaming industry, which had seen major investments and user adoption in recent years. With the new restrictions in place, companies are now recalibrating their strategies to comply with legal standards while continuing to engage users through non-monetary formats.