India, Aug. 25 -- India's online gaming market has hit its toughest level yet. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, passed on August 22, bans all formats with real money and formally segments the industry into three categories: esports, social gaming, and money games. Fantasy cricket leagues, rummy tables, and online poker apps go dark overnight, leaving millions of players without their favorite games. Along the way, esports titles like BGMI and Valorant and casual classics like Ludo King get a moment of legitimacy. For India's USD 3.49 billion gaming economy, it's a closure and a new beginning.

This is India's first national digital gaming framework. And it puts an end to years of uncertainty around whether rummy a...