Kavin Bharti Mittal to Shut Down Hike After India’s Real-Money Gaming Ban

Following India’s complete prohibition on real-money gambling (RMG), Bharti Airtel scion Kavin Bharti Mittal is closing his 13-year-old firm Hike. In order to concentrate on international markets, including the US, UK, and Australia, Mittal had already announced ambitions to leave India.

In a statement on the mailing platform Substack, Mittal stated, “After regrouping with our investors and the team, I’ve made the difficult decision to wind down Hike completely.” He said that the company’s US operations, which were only started nine months ago, are going well. But following the ban in India, expanding internationally would necessitate a complete overhaul, which is not the most efficient use of time or money.

According to Mittal, Rush employed over 100 people and functioned as a group of “SWAT teams” in India, the US, Dubai, and Singapore, as he told Moneycontrol last month. Small, highly competent, and agile teams that swiftly resolve complicated or urgent issues are frequently referred to as SWAT teams in the corporate world.

Hike’s Network and Growth in India

Before shutting it down in January 2021, Hike, which began as a messaging service in 2016 to compete with market leader WhatsApp, reached 40 million monthly active users. Later, the business changed course and started developing Rush, a casual RMG platform. In addition to including Web3 technologies that allow user ownership and play-to-earn principles, it included 14 mobile games with a financial component.

India’s Real-Money Gaming Ban and Its Impact

The new online gaming law in India forbids online money games in which a user deposits money, either directly or indirectly, in the hopes of making a profit. “RMG was never the destination,” Mittal said in the piece, but rather a “way to test unit economics and traction in India while working towards a bigger vision.” “In hindsight, starting in India locked us into the model and regulatory headwinds, turning a temporary path into a more permanent one,” he stated. Although it may be ahead of its time, Mittal stated that the “vision for Gaming Nation is real.”

“In gaming and Web3 Company 2.0, the world will eventually shift towards a nation-type model. We don’t want to recreate India, where we hoped for clarity that never materialised, but crypto legislation is still evolving globally,” he said. He went on to say that there are greater chances to use outstanding talent and money, as well as more pressing issues to address. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, the parent company of Bharti Airtel, is the father of Kavin Bharti Mittal.