The Mobile Premier League (MPL), an esports and online gaming unicorn based in Bengaluru, launched Mayhem Studios last year. Mayhem Studios has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Steadview Capital, Truecaller, and others, people with knowledge of the development told ET. A personal investment was made in the round by Bing Gordon, chief product officer at the US-based venture capital company Kleiner Perkins.
One of those mentioned above stated that “the development was shared with the employees of Mayhem Studios at a recent town hall meeting,” adding that the company will use the money to expand its capabilities and create new video games in India.
The charity event takes place against the backdrop of the federal government’s announcement of rules for internet gambling, which legalizes all types of gaming online except those involving real money and outcome wagering.
MPL has investors in addition to Sequoia Capital, which oversaw Mayhem Studios’ initial outside fundraising round. Fantasy sports, casual games, and real money games are all available on the platform of MPL, a company whose subsidiary owns the gaming studio.
To create AAA mobile games, which are video game franchises with substantial marketing and development budgets, Mayhem Studios was established. Shortly after the company’s founding in May 2022, the studio released its debut video game, the battle royale game Underworld Gang Wars.
The game production firm has competition from a number of companies, including Dream Game Studios, which is owned by Dream Sports, the parent company of Dream11, Nazara Technologies, and others.
A pioneering investor in MPL is Times Internet, a division of the Times Group, which also publishes ET.
In September 2021, MPL raised about $150 million at a $2.3 billion valuation. In order to enter the play-to-earn gaming market, the company also ventured into web-based gaming and founded the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Good Game Exchange (GGX) last month.
Earlier, ET claimed that MPL’s entry into web-based gaming was part of a strategy to establish a gaming company that encompasses skill-based real-money gaming, play-to-earn, and Mayhem Studios.
MPL chose not to comment.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology unveiled the final regulations for online gaming last week and established a self-regulatory structure for the games’ certification as legal or illegal. Following the notification, representatives of the gaming industry stated that the new regulations will contribute to more regulatory clarity and be expected to encourage foreign direct investment in India’s online gaming market.
According to gaming-focused venture investment firm Lumikai, the Indian gaming market is anticipated to increase from $2.6 billion in 2022 to $8.6 billion in 2027, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28%, with the number of gamers anticipated to reach 700 million by 2025. The Indian gaming market grew at a CAGR of 38% from 2017 to 2020, compared to 8% in China and 10% in the US.
The self-regulatory bodies will take into account factors including possible financial loss, user harm, and addiction potential when certifying whether internet gaming and betting are allowed or not, in addition to outlawing them.
