Game over for India’s booming online gaming Industry?

January 26, 2022 Crime & Legal

A wave of laws, rules in several states threatens to kill large parts of India’s rapidly growing online gaming industry.

Nikita Luther is India’s top poker player, the first woman and second player from the country to win a bracelet at the World Series of Poker, the game’s top competition. Yet at 30, her career stands at a crossroads. Luther’s skills are not in doubt, but the future of poker in India is.

A wave of laws and regulations introduced by multiple states across the country recently threatens to kill large parts of a rapidly growing online gaming industry, including popular card games like poker and rummy. The argument of each of the state governments is essentially the same: The laws passed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and a regulation introduced by Kerala are aimed at stamping out gambling.

But experts warn that the laws are drafted in a manner that does not distinguish between games driven by talent honed over years and those whose outcome is largely determined by luck. That distinction is critical – while betting on “games of chance” is illegal nationally, the nation’s top courts have previously allowed it for “games of skill”.

Now the courts have been called upon to intervene again. The All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), the apex industry body for the sector, and some of the country’s major gaming platforms have challenged the laws passed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Madras High Court, Tamil Nadu’s top court, struck the law down, while the Karnataka High Court is yet to pass a verdict. But Tamil Nadu has approached India’s Supreme Court seeking a reaffirmation of its law.

“If these laws are allowed to stand, it could cripple the gaming sector in India,” Jay Sayta, a lawyer and gaming industry analyst, told Al Jazeera.

At stake is the future of an industry that, if allowed to grow, is expected to employ 40,000 people in India by 2023, according to the AIGF.

The pandemic has, unsurprisingly, turbocharged the expansion of the sector, with revenues from online skill-based gaming in India expected to double to $3bn by 2023. Last June, consulting firm KPMG described India as among the world’s fastest-growing gaming markets, pointing to the country’s 420 million casual online gamers – second only to China – as evidence of the potential for further expansion.

At a time when Beijing is also clamping down on the gaming industry, a hit in India too could have serious implications for the sector globally. International platforms like PokerStars have invested in attracting India’s vast audience, signing on celebrities like former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as brand ambassadors. And the country is in turn producing champions like Luther.