Overview

• Founder Kavin Bharti Mittal announced a complete wind‑down in a LinkedIn post after reassessing options with investors and the team.
• The company will also end its nine‑month‑old U.S. push, which he said was off to a strong start but would require a full recapitalization to scale.
• India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 bans real‑money online games, with the government pointing to addiction, fraud and money‑laundering risks.
• Major platforms including Dream11, My11Circle, WinZO, Zupee and PokerBaazi have halted real‑money offerings in response to the law.
• Mittal noted Hike’s evolution from a messenger that reached about 40 million MAUs to Rush, which he said drew 10 million users and over $500 million in gross revenue, while stressing that regulatory uncertainty made further pivots unattractive.