Why We’re Exiting India and Going All-In on the US

Over the past few years, we’ve been building Rush in India with one belief: gaming is the new entertainment. Millions of Indians came to play, compete, and win, and we’re proud of the product and community we built here.

But today, it’s time to close this chapter.

The Government of India has made its position clear: RMG will not be allowed to exist in the country. Through GST hikes (rumoured now at 40%), regulatory ambiguity, and most recently, a bill rushed through to ban all RMG — without industry consultation — the message is loud and clear.

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Disappointed, Yet Respectful

We are, of course, disappointed. Not just for ourselves, but for the entrepreneurs, developers, and teams across India who poured their hearts, years, and billions of dollars of investment into this sector.

At the same time, we understand and respect the government’s decision to take a moral stance on what it believes to be right for society. Policy-making is complex, and democracies often involve hard trade-offs.

What we do wish is that this decision had been made sooner, with clearer communication. That would have saved billions in investment and avoided leaving the industry in regulatory limbo for years.

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The First Signals

This isn’t the first time we’ve felt the headwinds. The first signals came when India chose not to embrace crypto. For years, the promise of Web3 ownership — the very foundation of what we’re building — has remained uncertain here.

By contrast, in the US we’re seeing encouraging moves toward regulatory clarity. The Genius Act for stablecoins has already passed, and the Clarity Act for tokens is on the horizon. Together, they create one of the most exciting environments in the world to build in Web3.

For us, this matters deeply. Our vision isn’t just about games — it’s about building a new kind of network business where users don’t just participate, but actually own a piece of what they help build.

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The Broader Implications

India is one of the most exciting markets in the world for entrepreneurs and investors. But sudden regulatory reversals like this can cause turbulence and make investors wary of backing bold new ideas here.

We hope that as India grows into a global economic powerhouse, regulatory clarity, transparency, and industry dialogue become the norm. It benefits everyone: government, entrepreneurs, and most importantly, consumers.

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Our Path Forward

For us, this decision has brought clarity.

We will exit India completely and focus 100% of our efforts on the US and global markets.

Why this excites us:

• In global markets, our early product metrics are already stronger: 10x higher ARPU, 2x better retention, superior ROAS

• The US opens up new business models beyond RMG — including Advertising and Virtual Goods, multi-billion-dollar categories with far higher consumer spend than in India

• The US also offers a more stable regulatory environment

• Globally, we finally have the room to unlock our Hike Gaming Nation vision: a Company 2.0 where players aren’t just participants, but citizens and owners of the networks they help build

• Beyond the US, we’ll expand to the UK, Canada, Australia, and other markets in Africa and South East Asia

This step feels like a weight lifted off our shoulders. Instead of living in uncertainty, we can now go all-in on the biggest, most exciting part of our vision: building the world’s first true Gaming Nation.

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Closing

To everyone who worked with us in India: thank you. Your effort, resilience, and creativity will now fuel our global journey.

To the government: while we disagree with the approach, we respect your stance. We only wish the path had been made clearer earlier.

And to fellow founders and investors: this is a reminder that innovation thrives on risk, but not on uncertainty. Transparent, consistent regulation is essential for entrepreneurship to flourish.

Our mission continues. In fact, it’s bigger than ever.

In India, Rush scaled to over $500M in gross revenue in just 4 short years. The challenge we’ve set ourselves:

Can we scale our US/global business to be bigger than India was — and do it within the next 18–24 months?

We believe the answer is yes.

It’s time to build the Gaming Nation 🚀