This week on the Konvoy Newsletter audio edition, host Jason Chapman unpacks India’s sweeping ban on all online real-money gaming — a dramatic policy shift drawing comparisons to America’s Prohibition era. In just three days, lawmakers passed a bill that effectively wiped out a $23 billion industry, raising urgent questions about regulation, innovation, and investor confidence in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.
Behind the ban are concerns about suicide prevention, algorithmic manipulation, and national security. But does the data actually support these claims? And why has the government targeted online gaming while leaving social media — with its far stronger links to youth mental health issues — untouched?
From the cultural history of gambling in India to the sudden collapse of companies like Dream11 and MPL, and the stark contrast with America’s gambling boom, this episode examines whether prohibition will truly protect society — or drive the industry underground while damaging India’s global reputation.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• Why India’s government views real-money gaming as a “big evil” — and how that rhetoric echoes past prohibition movements
• The real data behind India’s suicide crisis, and whether online gambling is a major driver
• How cultural factors and social shame shape the country’s gambling debate
• The devastating economic fallout for companies, workers, and investors
• How America’s regulatory approach differs, and what it means for the future of global gaming policy
• Possible paths forward as Indian states and courts explore regulated alternatives
Whether you’re building in gaming, investing in emerging markets, or tracking global regulation, this episode explores how one policy decision reshaped an entire industry overnight — and what it signals about the future of gaming in India.
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