In a recent interview, CEO and co-founder of online gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL), Sai Srinivas gave some insights into the company’s plans to expand in both national and international gaming markets.
The IIT Kanpur alumni also talked about the growth of the Indian gaming sector in the last few years along with the impact of the new rules for online gaming. Srinivas got involved in gaming when he began working as an Associate Game Designer and Associate Product Manager at Zynga in Bengaluru. Srinivas was also the founder of CREO Tech.
Here’s a brief look at what Srinivas shared during the interview with The Times of India –
On being asked about the business performance of the company in the last year, the CEO said that they have seen a significant amount of growth with net revenues surging by 80% compared to FY22. Srinivas credited this to the company’s player-first approach.
In addition to minimizing infrastructure cost that reduced cost per active user, the company also worked on improving player security and developed in-house data analytics which they believe will further help to strengthen their market share.
Speaking of increasing their market share in the already competitive gaming sector, Srinivas stated that they are planning to become a global gaming hub. With their recent expansion to Nigeria, the company now has presence in Asia, North America, Africa and Europe.
As of now, MPL claims to have over 200 million players registered on its platform and provides a variety of gaming options like competitive gaming, paid and free to play (F2P) gaming and Web3 gaming. The company has also ventured into AAA game development.
Talking specifically about expanding in India, the company, while already having a strong Paid Competitive Gaming (PCG) portfolio, is also focusing on game development with the launch of AAA gaming studio called Mayhem which is developing Underworld Gang Wars. Srinivas refrained from talking about the game but did say it is in alpha stage.
Apart from that, the team at MPL is also working on the Web3 gaming space with the launch of ‘Striker’ recently. The skill gaming company believes that the Indian developers are also talented and the users will be surprised to see the achievements of them compared to their western counterparts in the times to come.
Around 70% of the revenue for the company currently comes from the Indian market. The CEO acknowledged the challenges they might face in future but is pretty confident with the crucial feedback and insights that the current users provide, helping them in expanding to different countries. By next year, the company aims to establish its presence in another country.
Talking about the recent growth of the gaming sector in India, Srinivas gave credit to the availability of affordable smartphones, internet penetration and the presence of a passionate gaming community. All three of these combined have given rise to talented esports players who inspire other players, leading to increase in investments in the sector.
With such rapid growth, the government stepped up and released new rules for online gaming to ensure player safety and proper regulation of the sector earlier this year. Srinivas said it was a welcome and positive step for the gaming industry.
Along with removing ambiguity concerning the long-running battle for what kind of games are allowed, the new rules give an opportunity to aspiring developers and firms trying to enter the market to reach a massive number of users.
He also said that MPL may need to adopt some changes when the SRBs are formed but is confident that the current policies properly align with the new online gaming rules.