Kavin Bharti Mittal, the founder of Hike and son of Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, has announced that the company will be shutting down operations following India’s new ban on real-money gaming. Hike, which started in 2012 as a messaging app and later reinvented itself as a gaming platform, had been operating its flagship product ‘Rush’, a popular real-money gaming service with millions of users.
But the Indian government recently introduced the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, a law that makes it illegal for online games to involve money, whether through deposits, entry fees, or cash winnings. Since Hike’s main product, Rush, was built around this kind of real-money gameplay, the new rules have closed off its ability to operate in the country and left the company without a workable future for its business.
“We could raise the capital, but the real question is: is it worth it? Is this a climb worth pivoting for? For the first time in 13 years, my answer is no,” Kavin said in his latest post on X.
At the time of the announcement, Hike employed around 100 people. Notably, Hike began its journey in 2012 as an ambitious instant messaging platform aimed at competing with WhatsApp. The company gained traction early on and secured backing from notable investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global, and Tencent. However, as the Indian market consolidated around WhatsApp, Hike shut down its messaging app in 2021 and pivoted to online gaming, experimenting with casual player-versus-player titles and, later, real-money gameplay. Under Rush, the company grew to more than 10 million users and, according to estimates, generated gross revenues of more than $500 million over a span of four years.
But the company’s future took a major hit in August 2025 when Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act. The law banned games that use money for deposits or winnings, which meant Hike’s real-money model could no longer run in the country. Actually, this not only stopped its operations at home but also created doubts about expanding abroad, since the company depended so much on its Indian market. Even Mittal called the situation a ‘global reset’, stating it would take a complete rebuild of capital and strategy to move forward.
Hike’s closure is part of a larger trend following the new ban. Several other platforms, including major players like Dream11, MPL, and Zupee, have also suspended their real-money divisions. Meanwhile, Mittal has said that shutting down Hike does not mean he is leaving innovation behind. He hinted at moving into new areas like artificial intelligence and energy, adding that the company’s decade-long journey has built a foundation for whatever he does next.
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