The company’s revenue from operations increased to $104.63 million in FY23, compared to $64.20 million in FY22, at a group level. Expenses also fell as it exited the merchandise business during the year under review.
MPL had laid off 100 people in May 2022, in addition to exiting the Indonesian market, amid a slowdown in the larger technology ecosystem.
MPL entered the merchandise business in 2021 after bagging sponsorship rights for the Indian cricket team’s kits from the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). However, it exited this line of business last year and relinquished its sponsorship rights as a weak startup investment scenario forced new-age companies to cut their costs.
During FY23, the company’s other expenses went down to $95.67 million from $149.06 million in FY22.
The company had clocked positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) in December 2022, and was charting a trajectory towards Ebitda profitability before the online gaming industry was dealt with a blow by an amended goods and services tax (GST) regime.
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In August, MPL laid off 350 people soon after GST on online real money gaming was increased to 28% on full face value, compared to 18% on platform fees that the companies in this space were levying earlier.In a letter to employees at the time, MPL cofounder and chief executive Sai Srinivas had written that the company had recorded its best-ever month in terms of business performance in June.
Several online gaming companies have said that the GST move has impacted the bottomline of operators in the segment, with most companies almost fully absorbing the impact of the increase in tax payout to prevent user churn.
However, like MPL, most companies in the online real money gaming space saw business growth in FY23. On Tuesday, ET reported that Bengaluru-based Gameskraft saw its revenue as well as profit grow during the year.
Times Internet, a part of the Times group which publishes ET, is an early investor in MPL.
Founded in 2018 by Srinivas and Shubam Malhotra, MPL offers around 70 games across categories such as fantasy sports, card games, board games, esports, and casual games on its Android and iOS apps. It claims to have over 90 million users across India, and other overseas geographies such as Europe and the US.
So far, MPL has raised $396 million in funding and commanded a valuation of $2.19 billion, according to information sourced from Tracxn. The company closed its $155 million Series E funding round in May last year, with investments coming in from Base Partners, Telstra Ventures, Google Ventures, SIG Venture Capital and Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India).
