Mobile game development studio “Mayhem Studios” launched by Mobile Premier League (MPL) in 2022, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital with many big names like Steadview Capital, Truecaller and others participating.

An anonymous source with knowledge of the situation spoke to Economic Times, saying that the company will utilise the funds to broaden its capabilities and create new video game titles in India.

Mayhem Studios was launched in order to develop AAA-quality of gaming titles. The studio is currently working on a Battle Royale game called “Underworld Gang Wars” with an Indian gangster. The studio also plans to compete with big companies like Dream Sports and Nazara Tech.

MPL, which provides a variety of fantasy games, casual games and real money games on its platform, is also backed by Sequoia Capital. The company raised approximately $150 million at a $2.3 billion valuation in September 2021.

Like many other companies, MPL has also entered the rapidly expanding Web3 and NFT market along with GGX. MPL’s NFT platform Striker will allow users to collect and trade digital cards.

With more and more people turning to online games in the past year, it is also important to keep the players safe from potential harm or getting duped. For this reason, the company has developed a proper anti-cheat system.

This synergizes very well with the recent announcement by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). According to MeitY’s announcement, the new rules will also heavily focus on player safety and fair gameplay.

The Indian gaming market is estimated to reach $8.6 billion in 2027 and cross 700 million games by 2025, according to a report by venture capital (VC) firm Lumikai. India also saw the highest CAGR OF 38% between 2017 and 2020.