Mobile Premier League (MPL) Unicorn

Over 60 games ranging from sports to puzzles and casual to board games, with both free-to-play and paid (real-money, where legally permitted) competition formats.

MPL states it runs a seven-layer security system reviewed by six independent global security organizations, and holds ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification plus accreditation from Arthur D. Little, SHIELD, All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), iTech Labs and RedHunt Labs.

MPL's about page describes users engaging in free and paid competitions across a portfolio of 60+ games spanning sports, puzzle, casual and board categories.

MPL hosts fantasy cricket, football and other sports-based contests timed to major tournaments such as the IPL, drawing sports-fan users.

MPL partnered with SHIELD to deploy device-intelligence and anti-fraud tooling (device fingerprinting, GPS-spoofing and multi-accounting detection) specifically to keep skill-based cash tournaments fair, using demonstrable integrity as the basis for player trust rather than one-off support interactions.

MPL built emotional/brand-level relationships with its core cricket-loving user base via kit sponsorship of the Indian national cricket team (2020-2022), IPL team partnerships, and signing Virat Kohli as brand ambassador — timing tournament pushes to real match moments like the toss.

MPL operates as a mobile-first gaming super-app; company communicated the 2025 real-money shutdown directly through in-app notices stating deposits and cash games were no longer available.

MPL signed on as an official sponsor of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (and separately Kolkata Knight Riders) starting in the 2020 season, using cricket broadcasts as a user-acquisition channel.

MPL states it hosts hundreds of millions of tournaments a month across its game catalog for its registered user base.

After acquiring GamingMonk in 2021, MPL launched 'Esports Arena', hosting fortnightly esports tournaments in titles such as chess, WCC and pool.

A proprietary, ML-based Matchmaking Engine pairs players by skill in real time, backed by an in-house 'Shield' security suite (AI pattern recognition, GPS anti-spoofing, bot and collusion detection) plus SHIELD's device-intelligence layer — core defensible technology protecting the integrity of cash-prize gameplay.

MPL's key resource base includes a library of 60+ games spanning fantasy sports, casual, puzzle and board formats, expanded through the 2021 acquisitions of GamingMonk (esports community platform) and GameDuell (Berlin-based game studio) to build first-party IP and content supply.

MPL's resources include the balance-sheet strength from its Series E round backed by Sequoia Capital, RTP Global, Times Internet and others, plus brand assets built through Indian national cricket team kit sponsorship (2020-2022) and Virat Kohli as brand ambassador.

MPL became an on-jersey/associate sponsor of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore starting with the 2020 T20 season.

Acquired GameDuell, a European multiplayer card/board/puzzle game studio, to gain a foothold and games catalog in the European market.

Users paid entry fees to join paid tournaments/contests, funding prize pools; this was MPL's core monetization mechanic in India until the August 2025 ban. India accounted for roughly 50% of MPL's total revenue (about $100M annually) at the time real-money operations were shut down.

Following the India ban, MPL said it is focusing on free-to-play gaming and expanding paid-game operations in international markets including the US, Brazil and Europe.

Co-founder Sai Srinivas told employees the company's variable costs are predominantly people, server and office infrastructure — cited when a 28% GST hike forced MPL to cut roughly 350 jobs (about 50% of staff) in August 2023.

India's GST Council imposed a flat 28% GST on the full face value of user deposits (rather than on gross gaming revenue) effective October 2023. MPL's leadership said this inflated its effective tax liability by 350-400%, becoming a structural, existential cost burden that pre-emptively forced roughly 350 layoffs (about half of MPL's India staff) in August 2023.

MPL spent heavily on brand-building through cricket: a Rs 12 crore brand-ambassador deal with Virat Kohli (signed 2019), a Rs 120 crore three-year deal to become the Indian cricket team's official kit sponsor via BCCI (2020, plus a 10% revenue share to BCCI on merchandise), and IPL team sponsorships of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. Advertising and promotional costs were MPL parent M-League's single largest expense line, rising 6.8% to Rs 442.97 crore (31.8% of total FY24 expenses).

Beyond advertising and people costs, M-League's (MPL's parent) FY24 expense base included hosting and IT support services, payment gateway fees, and royalty and licensing fees as other major recurring cost lines alongside employee benefit expenses (down 33% YoY to $36.9 Mn).