Why Indian Game Studios Struggle to Build Global Hits | Anuj Tandon (BITKRAFT)

India banned real money gaming in 2025. Anuj Tandon of BITKRAFT Ventures never backed a single RMG company, even when it was the only bet paying off in Indian gaming. In this episode, he explains how gaming venture capital in India really works, why micro dramas (microdramas) could beat Netflix and OTT, and why Indian game studios still struggle to build global hits. Anuj has seen Indian gaming from almost every seat. He co-founded a mobile game studio in 2010, ran game publishing at Nazara, and led the India business of a listed Chinese gaming company. At KRAFTON, the maker of PUBG and BGMI, he led investments into startups like Kuku FM, FRND and Nodwin Gaming. Today he's a Partner at BITKRAFT Ventures, a gaming and interactive media fund that manages $1.05 billion, and he leads its early-stage bets across India and the Middle East. In this conversation with host Akshay Datt, he explains why micro dramas could become the Candy Crush of long-form video, and why Istanbul is beating Bangalore at mobile games. He also talks about why India produced a wave of TikTok clones within six months of the 2020 app bans, but almost no games. If you're building, funding or just following Indian gaming startups after the RMG ban, this is where he thinks the money goes next. 👉 Why Anuj passed on every real money gaming deal at KRAFTON and BITKRAFT, and what working for a Chinese gaming company taught him about how regulators treat cash-in, cash-out games. 👉 How micro drama apps make money through in-app unlocks and subscriptions, and why he believes they could out-earn traditional OTT drama. 👉 What separates a game studio from a publisher, and why studios that land a hit, like PlaySimple with its half-a-billion-dollar exit to MTG, end up doing both. 👉 How a gaming VC values a startup, including why a studio with $10 million in revenue asking for a $100 million valuation might get an offer closer to $15 million. 👉 What puts investors off, from Claude-built pitch decks (an orange flag) to passing off GMV as revenue, which ends the deal. 👉 Why not every business is venture investable, and why a 10 crore business making 2 crore with five to seven people is a great outcome. BITKRAFT Ventures: https://www.bitkraft.vc Subscribe to Founder Thesis for weekly founder conversations, and follow Akshay Datt on LinkedIn for daily insights: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaydatt/ #indiangaming #MicroDrama #VentureCapital #AnujTandon #FounderThesis Disclaimer: The views expressed a