India, Aug. 30 -- The month of August has been nothing short of dreadful for the entire real-money gaming (RMG) sector, which collapsed in a matter of days (between August 18 and August 22).

A sector that had nurtured some of the country's most ambitious tech entrepreneurs was gutted with the introduction of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025. With this, the government finally concluded a long debate over games of skill or chance.

The fallout was prompt - all major RMG platforms suspended their pay-to-play services.

While there has been little to no impact on the withdrawal of funds on the users' end, for founders, it is a lesson that regulatory burdens, ambiguities in laws and cultural taboos are enough to strang...