The IPL (Indian Premier League), an annual cricket tournament, is coming up shortly within a few days and you must have noticed that this time a lot of online gaming companies have picked up sponsoring deals with the tournament and teams which worth crores of rupees

Dream 11 picked up the tournament title sponsorship for an approximately 220 crores. The Virat Kohli endorsed MPL (Mobile Premier League) acquired the principle sponsoring rights for the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders. Both of these companies have sponsorship/partnership deals with other teams as well.

It is fascinating to see such home-grown Indian gaming/fantasy league (whatever you may call) companies bagging up such enormous sponsoring/partnership deals. Companies that didn’t even exist a few years back, now evaluating millions, owing to the growth boom that happened after 2017.

If you are wondering what happened in 2017 then here it is. In a High Court ruling, Dream 11’s format of fantasy sports was recognised as a game of skill and not a gambling activity. Thenafter, Dream 11 saw a flock of users coming to their platform. Soon many other companies followed suit.

What led to the rise?

The online gaming industry in India has skyrocketed at a rapid rate after the introduction of real money online games, and a combination of factors has contributed to this growth.

Firstly, the availability of cheap internet (the reason we all know) and mobile devices, made the internet accessible to the common Indian masses than ever before, especially the age group between 18 to 45. People started exploring the plethora of real-world simulated experiences that came along, which were more convenient and cheap than the real-world counterparts. Thus, leading to an influx of consumers/customers, ready to be cashed on.

Secondly, a shift in the business model, from in-app purchases and revenue from in-app advertisements to real money game sparked the growth further. New companies are coming up with fresh gaming formats, and consumers are embracing it with open arms.

Thirdly, the reputation of online real money games has been whitewashed, from what it used to be known before that is gambling. After the High Court order, users felt freer to try out new gaming genres and push one’s luck on the possibility of winning an enormous sum from a pool just by investing a small amount

Lastly, improvement in background verification of onboarding users has significantly reduced online frauds like data breaching, location spoofing and identity theft. With the introduction of KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering), the market place has been made highly regulated thus it is up to online gaming companies now to strike a balance between compliance and user experience.

The problems that the online gaming sector faces are similar to what the banking and financial sector had faced before, which were mostly customer, regulatory and compliance related. Thus, the concern for innovation in this part of the business is low, as innovative solutions have already been explored and successfully implemented.

Why identity verification is necessary?

To ensure fair use, the companies must comply with KYC and AML regulations. With each advancement in the field of user authentication, the fraudsters find new ways to get around. It is up to the companies to keep integrating new technologies into their system to stay ahead of them.