"First time in 13 years, my answer is no...': Kavin Mittal announces Hike closure amid real-money game ban

Hike, once hailed as India’s homegrown challenger to WhatsApp, is closing its doors after 13 years in operation. Founder and CEO Kavin Mittal announced the decision to investors, confirming that all operations, including its recently launched US business, will be wound up.

The shutdown comes in the wake of India’s recent ban on real-money gaming (RMG), which Mittal said reduced the company’s financial runway from seven months to just four. “After much reflection and conversations with a few of you, I’ve decided to wind down Hike operations completely, including the US,” he wrote on his Substack newsletter, titled ‘Closing a chapter, opening a new one’.

Hike’s US business, launched only nine months ago, was reportedly off to a strong start. However, Mittal explained that scaling globally under the current circumstances would require full recapitalisation and a strategic reset. “The big question was never whether we could raise capital. It was: is this climb worth pivoting for? For the first time in 13 years, my answer is no. Not for me, not for my team, and not for our investors,” he said.

Hike Messenger

Founded in 2012, Hike Messenger quickly became one of India’s most promising consumer internet companies. At its peak, it boasted 40 million monthly active users and was ranked the 35th most loved consumer brand in India. In later years, the company pivoted to gaming with Rush, a casual player-versus-player (PvP) platform. Rush scaled to 10 million users and generated over $500 million in gross revenue in four years.

Reflecting on the journey, Mittal highlighted several key lessons: “Be careful with winner-take-all markets. To win, you need to go global. Don’t build for today’s constraints—build for the spring and summer of new technologies. Regulatory clarity matters. Risk is fine; uncertainty is not.” He added that RMG was never the ultimate goal, but a way to test unit economics and domestic traction. Starting in India, he admitted, “locked us into the model and regulatory headwinds.”

Rush's closure

Lat month, Mittal’s gaming platform, Rush, will cease operations in India following the government’s blanket ban on real-money gaming (RMG) under the newly passed Online Gaming Bill. In a detailed Substack post, Mittal stated that the government’s stance on RMG is now clear and unambiguous. “Through GST hikes, regulatory ambiguity, and now a bill passed without industry consultation, the message is loud and clear,” he wrote. Launched in 2020, Rush scaled rapidly, generating over $500 million in gross revenue within four years, and became Hike’s flagship product. Mittal lamented the impact on entrepreneurs and investors in India’s gaming ecosystem.

Looking forward

While this chapter closes, Mittal expressed optimism about the future. “This is both a disappointment and a hard outcome. But the learnings are invaluable,” he wrote, praising his team as “an incredible group of people who gave this everything.”

Looking ahead, Mittal plans to focus on three areas: artificial intelligence, breakthroughs in energy, and personal mastery. “Just imagine a future where willpower is infinite, energy is abundant, and intelligence is at our fingertips. This is the future I will help build — and it’s where I’ll be contributing in the decades to come,” he concluded.