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Real money gaming ban to unlock growth for ill monetised non-RMG titles: Report
In India's gaming sector, non-real money gaming (non-RMG) is emerging as the dominant growth path following the ban on RMG under the new Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, according to a report by Lightbox.
In its report “India's Gaming Inflection: Non-RMG at Scale”, Mumbai-based consumer technology venture capital fund Lightbox pointed out that with nearly 420 million players, India is one of the world's largest markets but has under-monetised its user base. The report said India had the largest gamer base after China in 2024, with about 110 million daily gamers and a 5–6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Under the new law, real-money gaming, its advertising, and financial rails are banned. Before the ban, RMG accounted for 83-86% of total gaming revenues in India. This move crystallised regulatory risk around RMG, while giving non-RMG titles — such as casual, mid-core, esports, and community-driven games — a clear tailwind, said Lightbox.
Non-RMG monetises through in-app purchases (IAPs), advertising, subscriptions, and hybrid models. Citing a FICCI-EY report, Lightbox projected IAPs in India to grow at a 20% CAGR, while advertising revenue in the Indian gaming sector grew 10% in 2024. Esports revenue in India was $100 million in 2024, with sponsorships contributing 61% of that total.
Lightbox also incorporated a poll with Rooter, a game streaming and commerce platform. The survey found:
74.9% of respondents already spend on non-RMG in-app purchases 31.2% said they spend Rs 1,000 or more per month Both heavy users (playing over two hours daily) and light users (playing under 30 minutes) reported spending more than Rs 1,000 monthly Popular expenditure categories were battle passes and subscriptions (40%), cosmetics (37%), and unlockable content (23%) On language preferences, 34% of gamers preferred Hindi-first content, followed by Tamil and Telugu; over 45% preferred regional language content overall Regarding ads, 12% of respondents found in-game advertising “annoying,” while 38% said they would stop playing if ad load became excessive 52.4% of respondents said their playtime has increased over the past five years
In commenting on the report, Sandeep Murthy, Managing Partner at Lightbox, said: “Indian Gaming is no longer a question of scale. Multi-faceted value creation is in progress. India can leapfrog from volume driven market to value driven gaming giant… Our poll with Rooter reveals that almost three-quarters of gamers are already spending in non-RMG… with over 30% spending Rs. 1,000 per month. If provided with the right value, content, and community, Indian gamers will pay.”
Lightbox's report highlights key strategic playbooks for non-RMG platforms and investors post-ban:
UPI-friendly off-store payment top-ups in ranges from Rs 10 to Rs 99, and Rs 99 to Rs 129 passes A disciplined live-service cadence (events, drops, content progression) Hybrid monetisation combining small in-app purchases with rewarded ads Cross-device expansion to capture higher-value users
The report also identifies growth drivers for India's non-RMG gaming ecosystem: hyper-localisation and culturally resonant content (with about 75% of users preferring Hindi or regional languages), game-based learning (valued at $873.3 million in 2024 and projected to reach $5.39 billion by 2033), cloud gaming (estimated at $9.98 million in 2024 and forecast to grow to $1.3 billion by 2030), and artificial intelligence for narrative generation, monetisation optimisation, and personalization.
The shift toward non-RMG, accelerated by regulatory change, positions India's gaming industry to trade heavily on in-game value, engagement, and new revenue models rather than wagering.
Source: EconomicTimes
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