When Gaming Hits Pause: How Fintech and RegTech Startups Are Adapting to India’s Online Gaming Crackdown

“The regulator pressed pause on online gaming, and suddenly the fintech engine that powered it went silent.”

The Sudden Pause in Play

For years, online gaming in India wasn’t just about entertainment; it was an economic engine. Real-money gaming platforms like Dream11, MPL, and Zupee attracted millions of players and powered transactions worth thousands of crores every month. But with the introduction of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, that engine came to a grinding halt.

The new law bans money-based gaming, forcing platforms to suspend their core operations almost overnight. For players, it felt like a sudden logout. For fintech and regtech startups that had grown alongside gaming, it was a complete disruption of their business models.

Collateral Damage: The Ripple Effect on Startups

The impact extended well beyond gaming apps. Payment gateways, wallets, and UPI processors that thrived on high transaction volumes are now staring at empty dashboards. Reports estimate fintech companies could collectively lose ₹20,000–30,000 crore in monthly transaction value. For many, gaming wasn’t just a client; it was the fuel driving their growth.

Regtech firms are facing an equally sharp slowdown. Their tools for identity verification, fraud checks, and compliance monitoring were designed with gaming in mind. Without that demand, advanced infrastructure sits underutilized. What looked like a long runway of growth has suddenly narrowed. The crackdown has revealed the dangers of building too much on a single sector.

Warning Signs Every Startup Should Know

The gaming ban has become a wake-up call for entrepreneurs across industries. The red flags it exposed are clear:

1. Heavy revenue dependence on one volatile sector

2. Idle infrastructure that cannot be quickly redeployed

3. Client churn leading to cash flow strain

4. High burn rates with little diversification

It’s a reminder that no matter how exciting a sector seems, concentration risk can leave businesses vulnerable to shocks beyond their control.

Reinvention: Startups Pivoting Under Pressure

Yet disruption often forces reinvention. Across the ecosystem, founders are already pivoting. Fintechs are redirecting payment systems toward e-commerce, subscription services, and education platforms. Regtech players are finding new takers in healthtech, insurance, and telecom industries where compliance is tightening.

Even some gaming platforms are exploring esports, content-driven models, and overseas markets where regulation is lighter. As Kunal Bahl, co-founder of Snapdeal, recently said:

“The real-money gaming ban has triggered an explosion of startup activity.” 

Regulation may have closed one door, but it has also sparked fresh ideas and business models.

The Broader Takeaway

The ban is not the end of online gaming; it’s a reset. What this moment highlights is the need for resilience, diversification, and adaptability. Startups cannot afford to rely on one sector, and investors cannot afford to rely on one theme. The future belongs to those who spread their risks intelligently and prepare for sudden shifts.

Where Tikona Capital Steps In

At Tikona Capital Finserv, we see these pauses not as setbacks but as opportunities to build stronger foundations. Just as fintech and regtech startups are being forced to diversify, investors, too, must rethink how their portfolios are structured.

This is where our Model Portfolios and Smallcases make the difference. These are professionally curated, SEBI-registered equity strategies that help investors move away from volatile, high-risk bets into diversified sector baskets. By spreading exposure across themes and industries, they reduce the risks of sudden disruption while still capturing long-term growth opportunities.

Because when the game pauses, the winners are not the ones waiting for the restart; they’re the ones already preparing for the next level.

⚡“Your financial co-pilot in every market cycle, Tikona Capital Finserv is here to help you navigate with confidence.”