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Bharti Airtel scion Kavin Bharti Mittal is closing his 13-year-old startup Hike after India banned real-money gaming (RMG).
Mittal had earlier said he planned to leave India and focus on markets like the US, UK, and Australia.
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Mittal said the ban on real-money gaming (RMG) in India cut the company’s survival time from seven months to just four months, leading to the decision.
After much reflection and speaking with a few of you, I’ve decided to wind down Hike operations completely, including the US,” he wrote in an email.
Hike began in 2016 as a messaging app to rival WhatsApp and grew to 40 million monthly active users before shutting down in January 2021. The company then shifted to a casual real-money gaming platform called Rush, offering 14 money-based games with Web3 features like user ownership and play-to-earn.
But under India’s new online gaming law, any game where users deposit money expecting winnings is banned, forcing Hike to shut down.
Last month, Mittal said Rush grew to 10 million users and over $500 million in gross revenue in four years. The platform added that its 5 million players across 14 skill-based games win about $480 million each year.
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