Exclusive: MPL’s Blast to invest in gaming studio XSQUADS

Skill-based gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League (MPL)’s publishing arm Blast has put its first bet by investing in Surat-based game development firm XSQUADS. Launched early this month, Blast focuses on bringing new games from global and indie gaming studios to India.

“Blast is in the last leg of investing $2 million in XSQUADS as the terms of the deal have been sealed,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity as talks are private. “The company is picking up a 20% stake in XSQUADS at a valuation of $10 million.”

Founded by Jemesh Lakhani, XSQUADS’ flagship game ScarFall is India-centered battle royale game with realistic maps inspired by real-life locations from Mumbai, Andaman Nicobar Island. It could be played in survival, respawnable and TDM modes.

According to sources, the deal would enable broader distribution for XSQUADS by providing access to MPL’s 75 million users in India.

Last week, MPL launched Blast to help independent game developers across the globe publish and scale their games locally in India. Sources indicate that its free-to-play GameDuell has been well received, particularly the free-to-play games. Adoption of such games prompted MPL to invest in the free-to-play gaming ecosystem.

Entrackr has reached out to MPL and XSQUADS for more details.

While this is a strategic investment, MPL has acquired four startups including Good Game Exchange, GameDuell, GamingMonk and Crevise Technologies in the past five years.

Despite regulatory challenges, M-League, the parent company of Mobile Premier League (MPL), registered 22.2% growth in its operating revenue to Rs 1,068 crore in FY24. The company’s losses also declined by more than 21% to Rs 375 crore in the last fiscal year. Importantly, it also turned operating cash flow positive with Rs 157 crore in the last fiscal.