MediaNama’s Take
India’s new Online Gaming Bill marks a significant step in distinguishing esports and social play from outright gambling. Yet, its silence on loot boxes, microtransactions, and account reselling leaves troubling gaps. Globally, regulators have already recognized that loot boxes mimic gambling mechanics, often luring minors into high-spend habits under the guise of entertainment. Belgium and South Korea, for instance, have acted decisively to curb or regulate them. In India, however, the Bill avoids mentioning these mechanics, even though they operate at the heart of many popular games.
At the same time, account selling and grey-market trades complicate the esports ecosystem. High-ranked accounts in Valorant or rare skins in Fortnite routinely fetch hundreds or even thousands of dollars on third-party platforms, despite publishers explicitly banning such practices. This shadow economy not only undermines fair competition but also exposes younger players to exploitative transactions and fraud.
Casual games with “pay-to-win” models blur the line between social play and monetized advantage. By leaving these practices unregulated, the Bill risks allowing grey markets to thrive. As India formalizes its gaming laws, lawmakers must confront the reality: gambling-like features and illicit resales already shape the industry.
What’s the news?
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, passed in the Rajya Sabha on August 21, 2025, seeks to create India’s first national framework for its burgeoning gaming industry. The draft law promises recognition for esports and online social games, while drawing a hard line against “online money games” where players stake money or items in expectation of monetary returns. It proposes an Authority to classify games, prohibits real money gaming, and imposes penalties of up to three years in jail and fines of Rs 2 crore for violations.
Yet, in its effort to separate skill-based esports and casual social play from gambling-like formats, the Bill leaves a regulatory grey zone. Many popular titles, such as EA FC’s (formerly the FIFA series) Ultimate Team and competitive online First Person Shooters (FPS) like Counter-Strike and Valorant, rely on microtransactions, loot boxes, or in-game assets that players resell on third-party markets.
While publishers generally forbid such trading in their terms of service, grey economies thrive, allowing players to cash out by selling accounts, coins, or skins. The Bill defines “other stakes” as virtual tokens or objects convertible to money, but does not explicitly address these resale practices. That silence raises questions on how India will treat grey-market monetisation that sits uncomfortably between esports and gambling.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming, believes “Grey-market practices like third-party skin sales and account trading could fall under the definition…
Source link
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We blogs.grocliq.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on for any glitch kindly connect at [email protected]
