Real-money gaming ban backfires? 1 in 3 RMG users shift to offshore betting sites

When the government passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act in August 2025, banning all online games involving cash stakes, policymakers hoped to end years of regulatory ambiguity around real-money gaming (RMG). But new data suggests the move may have redirected demand rather than eliminated it.

According to Lumikai’s State of India Interactive Media Report 2025, roughly one in three RMG users may have shifted to offshore betting platforms after the ban took effect. These include global operators such as Bet365, Betway, 1xBet, NetBet and Paddy Power, which function outside India’s regulatory and consumer protection frameworks.

“The ban shifted demand offshore rather than eliminating it,” the report said.

The findings, based on smartphone usage data from around 100,000 users tracked by consumer insights platform VTION, point to a sharp rise in workaround behaviour. One of the clearest indicators is the spike in usage of Opera, a browser with built-in VPN functionality often used to bypass geographic restrictions.

Among RMG users, the average number of days accessing Opera jumped from 26 in the July–September 2025 period to 46 in October–December. Daily usage also increased with average time spent increasing from 0.6 minutes to 1.4 minutes per day on days the app was used.

Web data mirrors this trend. Traffic to the top five offshore betting platforms surged in the weeks immediately following the August ban and has continued to rise through January 2026. Searches for offshore betting platforms also saw a clear uptick post-ban.

India’s RMG segment, valued at $2.3 billion in 2024, fell to $1.3 billion in 2025 amid tightening regulations and has now effectively been wiped out after the ban on such platforms.

However, users have not exited digital entertainment altogether. Instead, they have redistributed their time across multiple categories. Music streaming saw a 43% rise in daily engagement among former RMG users, while micro-dramas recorded a 40% jump. Social media usage increased 24% and OTT video consumption grew by 20%.

Free-to-play gaming has also absorbed part of this demand. Titles such as Garena Free Fire MAX and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) saw higher engagement, with former RMG users spending an average of 66 minutes per day on non-RMG games post-ban, up from 62 minutes earlier. By comparison, non-RMG players averaged 54 minutes per day.

Excluding real-money gaming, India’s video games industry reached $1.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to $3.2 billion by 2030. The total number of gamers declined 9% to 555 million after the ban, largely due to the exit of users who were not core gamers. Yet payer conversion held steady at 25% and mid-core games maintained an average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) of $15.

India’s interactive media ecosystem is now valued at $13.8 billion and growing at 17% year-on-year, supported by over 877 million smartphone users. With UPI accounting for 85% of transactions, users can move money across platforms, including those beyond regulatory oversight.

“A new India no longer just consumes digital media, it participates, creates and plays,” the report said.