Skill-gaming unicorn MPL's parent firm's FY24 revenue jumps 22% to $130 million

MPL co-founders Sai Srinivas (L) and Shubh Malhotra.

M-League, the parent company of Bengaluru-based skill gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) and European card and board game studio GameDuell, saw a 22 percent increase in revenue at $130 million in FY24, the firm said on October 22.

It achieved break even with an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $0.2 million. This is despite headwinds associated with higher goods and services tax (GST) rates in the India operations of M-League, it said.

M-League, however, posted a post-tax loss of $44.9 million in FY24 against $37 million in the previous year.

The government imposed a 28 percent GST regime on the real-money gaming sector, which came into effect from October 1, 2023. M-League reported revenue of $106.4 million and a negative adjusted EBITDA of $44.7 million in FY23.

The firm attributed the results to its cost-cutting initiatives and improved operational efficiency at MPL. The skill-gaming unicorn  fired 350 employees, which represented about 50 percent of its India workforce, in August 2023. It also shut down the web3 fantasy platform Striker in December and consolidated its web3 investment, Good Game Exchange (GGX), within the company.

“We focused on innovation, streamlined processes to reduce costs, and accelerated time to market for new games,” M-League said in a statement.

The company's employee benefit expenses, excluding ESOP costs, reduced by 33 percent to $36.9 million in FY24. Overall expenses were at $129.7 million, down 14.2 percent from the previous year.

India vs international markets

About 31 percent of M-League's revenues in FY24 came from international markets, down from 38 percent in FY23. M-League has a presence in North America, Africa and Europe beside India.

Its revenue from India grew 35 percent to about Rs 740 crore ($88 million) in FY24.

The Gross Gaming Revenues (GGR) and the number of cash-paying monthly active users increased by nearly 60 percent in the past year. GGR are the fees charged by the skill-gaming company to allow users to participate in a game on their platform.

The startup, which counts Peak XV (previously Sequoia India) and RTP Global among its investors, has also benefited from strong revenue growth in GameDuell.

“When M-League acquired GameDuell in 2022, it was primarily a web-based skill gaming company. Over the past two years, we have invested in transforming GameDuell into a cross-platform experience spanning web, and mobile, with a strong focus on free-to-play,” the firm said.

GameDuell has seen a 50 percent revenue growth since its acquisition, with nearly 70 percent of the revenue coming from free-to-play games.

"Our success with GameDuell has strengthened our confidence in the free-to-play model. We believe that free to play (F2P) represents the next big opportunity... In 2024-25, we will make significant strides in free-to-play gaming in India while reinforcing our leadership in skill gaming," the company said in a statement.

The free-to-play market in India is on the same level that skill gaming was in 2018 when MPL started. "Our vision is to position M-League as the go-to platform for gaming worldwide, starting from India," it said.

Started in 2018 by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra, MPL offers over 60 games across categories such as daily fantasy sports, quizzing, board games, puzzle, and casual games on its Android and iOS apps. It also claims to have over 90 million registered users across Asia, Europe, and North America.

MPL was last valued at $2.3 billion after raising $150 million in September 2021, which also marked its entry into the unicorn club.

The startup also incubated Mayhem Studios, a mobile gaming studio, in 2022. The studio, which plans to develop big-budget mobile games, is working on Underworld Gang Wars, a battle royale rooted in India.

Mayhem Studios raised about $20 million from investors such as Peak XV Partners, Steadview Capital, Truecaller and Hashed Emergent in 2023. It also bagged funding from Lumikai, a gaming and interactive media-focused venture fund, in July 2024.