CrickPe, the cricket-focused fantasy sports application from Ashneer Grover's Third Unicorn, appears to have introduced paid subscriptions with zero platform fees through a new offering called CrickPe Pro, in a possible bid to attract more players onto its platform.
This launch comes ahead of the biennial Asia Cup cricket tournament that is starting on August 30. It also comes at a time when India's real-money gaming industry has been hit hard by the government's decision to impose a whopping 28 percent GST on player deposits, a move that is set to result in a significant tax burden on the companies.
At the time of writing this article, consumers can choose to purchase a monthly plan for Rs 200 or an annual plan for Rs 1,000. They can top up their in-app wallet to buy these plans. The company will waive off its 10 percent platform fees on player winnings for those who purchase these plans.
Real-money gaming companies typically earn money by charging a fee for making its platform available for users to participate in games or tournaments.
CrickPe notes that people can also "share their team" to earn 5 percent extra on their winnings. However, it is yet to disclose specific details on how this will work. We have reached out to the company for more information and will update once we hear back.
Read: Explained: GST Council’s 28% tax on India’s real-money gaming sector
The move to offer a higher share of winnings to players could help CrickPe draw more players onto its platform as well as retain its existing users, in a market that is currently dominated by Dream11 with over 90 percent market share, as per industry estimates.
Third Unicorn, the venture floated by BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain, had launched CrickPe in March 2023, a week prior to the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. The company has raised about $4 million in seed funding led by ZNL Growth Fund earlier this year, as per media reports.
CrickPe allows players above 18 years of age to create a virtual team of cricket players or choose a team created by a "fantasy cricket expert" to enter paid contests and earn cash prizes based on their performance in real-life games. People can also create private groups to play with a limited group of friends as well as participate in contests to win rewards.
At the time of launch, CrickPe had said that it will give 10 percent of every game pot to real cricketers based on their actual performance in the cricket match. It also allowed users to send cash rewards ranging from Rs 100 - Rs 100,000 per year to their favourite cricketers. However, the startup appears to have now removed these features as per its website and mobile application.
In April 2023, a report from Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports and Deloitte India had pegged the revenues from the Indian fantasy sports industry at Rs 6,800 crore in FY22. It also mentioned that the sector's revenues is set to grow by 33 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to cross Rs 25,300 crore by FY27.
That said, the government's imposition of a 28 percent GST on real-money games is expected to significantly dent the growth trajectory of this fast-growing industry due to a substantially higher tax burden. Last month, Grover had said that the measure has become an "existential issue" for the skill-based gaming industry.
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