What a week for India’s gaming industry! From ‘fun’ to ‘fraud’ and even ‘financing of terrorism’ — real money gaming (RMG) has hit its rock bottom.

The government looks determined to pull the plug on money-based online gaming, sending shockwaves across the ecosystem and sparking massive outcry from startups, investors, and users alike.

Naturally, there has been an outcry from the industry. In fact, the immediate fallout was dramatic — major players like Dream11, MPL, Probo, Zupee, PokerBaazi, and My11Circle announced shutting down all real money game offerings, with many more expected to follow suit. Others, such as WinZO, have halted all impacted games and are paring down their platform.

While on one hand, there are questions raised on the broader impact of startups shutting down, including the lakhs of jobs at stake, there is also clear support towards the step, as many believe it was a full-fledged gambling economy running unregulated in the guise of gaming.

Amid all the hue and cry, Nazara Technologies’ fate and the sentiment of the public market seemed to have soured. The only listed online gaming major among the new-age companies, Nazara’s valuation was precisely at $1.5 Bn just last week and the share price has plunged by 19% this week.

Nazara was quick to put out its statement early morning on Wednesday (August 20), clarifying its exposure to RMG. “Nazara has no direct exposure to real money gaming (RMG) businesses.”

But the public market had already written its fate. Nazara’s stock crashed 13% to end the day’s trading at INR 1,221.65 on the BSE. It followed the losing streak in the next two sessions, with shares touching more than a three-month low spot at INR 1,155.75.

After seeing some pressure between September 2024 and April 2025, Nazara’s stock saw big gains earlier this year. But all of this was wiped out in a couple of sessions.

After months of slump, Nazara had started seeing an uptick in its stock movement from the end of May this year. Before the RMG ban, the shares had gained 40% year to date (YTD). Even now, the stock is up 14% YTD, which shows that Nazara had rallied significantly in the past few months.

Nazara’s investment, amounting to a total of INR 1,060 Cr, is now also in limbo. So it’s not just a major revenue opportunity that has........

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