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CCI questions Googleโ€™s โ€˜arbitraryโ€™ policies on real-money gaming

YourStoryYourStory ยท 1y ago
CCI questions Googleโ€™s โ€˜arbitraryโ€™ policies on real-money gaming
Medial

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating Google for alleged anti-competitive behavior following complaints by Winzo Games. Winzo Games claims that Google abused its dominant market position in app distribution, payment systems, and advertising. The CCI will specifically examine Google's Play Store policies and its treatment of real-money gaming (RMG) apps. Winzo Games alleges that Google unfairly limited the availability of RMG apps, resulting in a loss of business for the company. Google defended its actions, citing regulatory uncertainties. The CCI raised concerns about Google's justifications and highlighted potential competition concerns. The investigation will conclude within 60 days.

Winzo ends FY23 with Rs 674 Cr revenue and Rs 126 Cr PAT

EntrackrEntrackr ยท 1y ago
Winzo ends FY23 with Rs 674 Cr revenue and Rs 126 Cr PAT
Medial

Online gaming startup Winzo registered 2.8X growth in its scale during the fiscal year ending March 2023. Significantly, the Delhi-based company also posted a hefty profit of Rs 126 crore in the same period. Winzoโ€™s revenue from operations surged to Rs 674 crore in FY23 from Rs 234 crore in FY22, its consolidated financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies show. Established in 2018, Winzo offers over 100 games across categories such as strategy, sports, casual, card, arcade, racing, action, and board games. The service fees levied on the total funds involved in real money games, and the sale of digital or in-app vouchers were the only revenue drivers for Winzo. The company also made Rs 16.78 crore from interest (non-operating), taking its total revenue to Rs 691 core in FY23. Similar to every online gaming platform, Winzo spent a major chunk (46% of its total expenditure) on marketing (advertising cum promotions). This cost surged 29.6% to Rs 258 crore in FY23. The firmโ€™s burn on employee benefits, legal-professional, commission paid to agents, direct gaming costs, and other overheads catalyzed its overall expenditure to Rs 564 crore in FY23 from Rs 375 crore in FY22. See TheKredible for the complete expense breakdown. Expense Breakdown Total โ‚น 375 Cr https://thekredible.com/company/winzo-games/financials View Full Data To access complete data, visithttps://thekredible.com/company/winzo-games/financials Total โ‚น 564 Cr https://thekredible.com/company/winzo-games/financials View Full Data To access complete data, visithttps://thekredible.com/company/winzo-games/financials Employee benefit Employee benefit Information technology Information technology Legal professional Legal professional Commission paid to other selling agents Commission paid to other selling agents Advertising promotional Advertising promotional Gaming related direct cost Gaming related direct cost Others To check complete Expense Breakdown visit thekredible.com View full data Caveat: We have excluded the cost of financial liabilities designated at fair value through profit and loss (CCPS) while calculating the total expenses for both years (FY23 and FY22). That said, a notable jump in scale helped Winzo report Rs 126 crore profit in FY23 as compared to a loss of Rs 130 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin improved to 27% and 19% respectively. On a unit level, the company spent Rs 0.84 to earn a rupee in FY23. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin -53% 19% Expense/โ‚น of Op Revenue โ‚น1.60 โ‚น0.84 ROCE -39% 27% Winzo has raised around $100 million to date including a $65 million Series C round led by California-based Griffin Gaming Partners in July 2021. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Makers Fund is the largest external stakeholder with 15.77% followed by Griffin Gaming Partners and Courtside Ventures. The significant jump in profits for Winzo underscores the best case scenario for most gaming platforms today. A high fixed cost business till it achieves critical mass in terms of users and fees, and post that, very low cost increases, as most of the incremental money goes to the bottomline. For Winzo, however, future investments will beckon soon, both in terms of new game development as well as the high marketing spends, which it will find tough to tamp down for now. But with a growing gamers user base across the country and with itself, next only to China, maintaining margins may not be as tough. You can be sure that if it does so in FY24, India will have its next high growth Unicorn from gaming to talk about.

WinZO concludes 4th ESOP buyback

EntrackrEntrackr ยท 1y ago
WinZO concludes 4th ESOP buyback
Medial

Online gaming startup Winzo has announced the completion of its fourth round of employee stock options plan (ESOP) liquidation. This initiative allows eligible employees, approximately 30% of WinZOโ€™s workforce, comprising team members with at least two years of tenure, to liquidate their vested ESOPs. In the last 12 months, the company has filed more than 25 technology patents across the world for its supercomputing technology, real-time communication innovation, and AI applications in content creation. Established in 2018, Winzo offers over 100 games across categories such as strategy, sports, casual, card, arcade, racing, action, and board games. Previously, WinZO conducted three rounds of ESOP liquidation in 2021 and 2023. With a team of 200 members, WinZO has raised $100 million in cumulative funding from leading investors, including Griffin Gaming Partners, Makerโ€™s Fund, Courtside Ventures, and Kalaari Capital. According to data intelligence platform, TheKredible, Winzoโ€™s revenue from operations surged to Rs 674 crore in FY23 from Rs 234 crore in FY22. Similar to every online gaming platform, Winzo spent a major chunk (46% of its total expenditure) on marketing (advertising cum promotions). This cost surged 29.6% to Rs 258 crore in FY23. Recently, Whatfix rolled out a $58 million liquidity program for its employees and investors. In the ongoing calendar year, Swiggy, Urban Company, MyGate, Classplus, Meesho, The Sleep Company, XYXX, Purplle, Dehaaat, Leverage Edu, Pocket FM and Adda247 bought back ESOPs from their employees.

ED freezes Rs 192 Cr linked to WinZO subsidiary in money laundering probe

EntrackrEntrackr ยท 3d ago
ED freezes Rs 192 Cr linked to WinZO subsidiary in money laundering probe
Medial

News All Stories ED freezes Rs 192 Cr linked to WinZO subsidiary in money laundering probe Last month, ED arrested WinZO co-founders Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore after search and seizure operations at company premises and residences. Shashank Pathak 01 Jan 2026 20:46 IST Follow Us The Directorate of Enforcement has frozen assets worth around Rs 192 crore classified as Proceeds of Crime (POC) belonging to Zo Games Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of WinZO Pvt Ltd, after conducting a search operation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The assets were frozen in the form of bank balances, fixed deposits, and mutual funds, the ED said in a press release. The agency stated that evidence pointed to deceptive gaming practices on the WinZO platform, where users were made to play real money games against bots and algorithm-driven personas without disclosure. The probe also found that withdrawals of user funds were restricted or prevented in certain cases. So far, the ED has identified total Proceeds of Crime of around Rs 802 crore in the case. Earlier, in November 2025, the ED arrested WinZO co-founders Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore after search and seizure operations at company premises and residences. These actions followed the freeze of assets worth over Rs 505 crore under the PMLA. The assets included bank balances, fixed deposits, mutual funds, and other financial instruments linked to the company and its related entities. The investigation is based on multiple FIRs and hundreds of user complaints that allege manipulation of gameplay, misuse of customer data, non-refund of user funds, and continuation of real money gaming activities despite regulatory restrictions. Investigators said user funds remained with the platform even after restrictions on real money gaming came into force. The ED has also flagged overseas fund movements, with part of the alleged Proceeds of Crime routed to the US and Singapore as overseas investments. Funds worth $54 million were found parked in a US bank account held by WINZO US Inc. The WinZO case forms part of a wider enforcement phase in 2025. During the year, the ED initiated action against startup-origin companies such as Dream11, Gameskraft, Probo, Paytm, Myntra, Simpl, and OctaFX under money laundering, FEMA, and foreign-exchange related probes.

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