Cricket
Stars MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra
Jadeja, Tilak Varma and Sai Sudharsan come on board as Investors; the funding
round drew investments from Blume, V3 Ventures, MIXI and Times Internet.

Bengaluru,
India, April 23, 2026:  LightFury
Games (LFG), a AAA-focused game-tech studio, today
announced it has raised US$11 million in its Pre-Series A. The
100-member studio spans deep creative talent and advanced technical capability
to build premium, globally competitive games. Its backers include Blume, V3
Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet and strategic investments from top
members of the Indian cricket team.

In
a defining endorsement for the company and its debut title ‘eCricket’,
some of the biggest names in the world of cricket – MS Dhoni, Jasprit
Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja,
Tilak Varma and Sai Sudharsan have joined the round as
investors.

At
a time when cricket remains one of the world’s most-followed sports, the
backing of iconic and leading cricketers gives LightFury Games a rare
athlete-backed momentum as it builds ‘eCricket’, a AAA title from
India with global ambitions, slated for release in 2026 on mobile.

The
fresh capital will be primarily deployed to complete game development and
strengthen its live operations (live ops) capabilities. This includes the
post-launch infrastructure content pipelines and systems designed to deliver a
high-quality, continuously evolving player experience at scale. With cricket
commanding a global audience estimated to be over 2.5
billion, LightFury aims to address a significant gap
in the sports gaming category by delivering a technically advanced,
competitive, and live-service-driven Cricket e-game Franchise from India. The
100-strong studio combines creative vision with technical innovation to create
high-quality, globally competitive games.

“We’ve backed LightFury
from inception, in their mission to pioneer a new generation of Indian gaming
studios, building IPs with global ambition. Building a AAA game is neither easy
nor quick – it takes sustained creative excellence, deep technical expertise,
and long-term discipline. In LightFury, we’ve seen a team come together from
different parts of the world, with a shared passion and incredible attention to
detail, depth and creativity. Supercharged by natively built AI tools, we are
excited for the world to experience eCricket very soon. We would like it to be
the Dhurandhar of Indian gaming history,” said Karthik Reddy, Co-founder and
Managing Partner, Blume Ventures.

Arjun
Vaidya, Managing Partner of V3 Ventures, added,
“I’m a die-hard cricket fan, and today it is one of the biggest sports in
the world. Yet it still does not have a definitive game in the way football,
basketball or American football do. That is the gap. What gives us confidence
is not just the size of the market, but the quality of gameplay, overall
experience and player associations that LightFury has been building behind the
scenes with real intent. Cricket is a uniquely complex sport, and its place at
the intersection of culture, community and technology for nearly a quarter of
the world’s population makes the opportunity around eCricket even more
exciting. We’re excited to back LightFury as they work to build an impactful,
category-defining global title and give our favourite sport the game it
deserves.”

The
global gaming market is projected to surpass US $400 billion in the coming years,
and India’s gaming ecosystem is expected to reach US $9.89 billion by 2031
(growing at a CAGR of 14.55% between 2026 and 2031). LightFury Games is
positioning itself at the forefront of India’s rise as a global game
development hub. The company has invested over the past two years in core
development capabilities, infrastructure, and analytics systems to enable
continuous content, deep player engagement and long-term operational
excellence.

“India has long been
one of the world’s biggest gaming markets. Yet it has not been able to build a
truly world-class AAA sports title. With eCricket, we want to change that. We
are building from India for the world, with a very high bar on quality, deep
competitive gameplay, and true-to-sport authenticity. This partnership ensures
that we deliver on that vision and bring eCricket to fans soon in 2026. For us,
this is much bigger than a game launch. It is about proving that India can
build premium gaming IPs for the world, and not just play it.” says Karan
Shroff, Co-Founder & CEO, LightFury Games

On what stood out to
him about this collaboration, MS Dhoni said, “I’ve seen a lot of
cricket games over the years, and there’s always been something missing. When
LightFury showed me what they were working on, I felt they were trying to close
that gap. It’s a big undertaking, building something like this out of India for
a global audience. I’m here to contribute what I can from my time in the game,
and make sure the details hold up. The rest is up to them, and from what I’ve
seen, they’ll do a good job.”

Speaking about the
challenge of capturing the depth of cricket in a game, Jasprit Bumrah who is
exclusively managed by RISE Worldwide, added, “Cricket is a game of fine
margins, and that’s what stood out to me about eCricket. The focus on detail
and authenticity is impressive. I’m happy to back a team that is thinking deeply
about the sport and building something meaningful from India.”

Sharing his perspective
on cricket’s scale and fan energy, Hardik Pandya said, “Cricket is
pressure, skill, and entertainment all at once. Fans want to feel that energy.
What excites me about eCricket is that it is not trying to make cricket smaller
for gaming. It is trying to make gaming rise to the scale of cricket. That is a
bold idea, and I was very excited when the LightFury team approached me to be a
part of  the game.”

eCricket,
built on Unreal Engine 5 and designed for mobile-first play, delivers a
progression-driven experience with evolving player journeys shaped by real-time
decisions. Its physics-led gameplay, combined with strategic batting and
bowling systems, authentically captures real-world styles and match dynamics,
while dynamic AI commentary and broadcast-style presentation ensure no two
matches feel the same. Earlier this year, LightFury Games had also announced
securing the global player roster license of over 600 professional
cricketers featuring stars like Chris Gayle, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Kane
Williamson, Pat Cummins, Jos Buttler, Travis Head and Andre Russell,
marking one of the largest rosters in cricket gaming. eCricket reflects
LightFury’s vision to build a definitive, globally competitive cricket gaming
franchise, positioning India at the forefront of premium sports game
development.

About
LightFury Games:

Founded
in 2024 by industry veterans Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee,
and Tina Balachandran,
LightFury Games is India’s premier AAA-focused game-tech studio dedicated to
building high-quality, cutting-edge gaming experiences. Together, the
leadership team has worked on more than 40 AAA titles.

With
the Pre-Series A, LightFury Games has raised two successful rounds. Its
backers include Blume, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet and strategic
investments from top members of the Indian cricket team. The 100-strong
studio combines creative vision with technical innovation to create
high-quality, globally competitive games. Since its inception, LightFury Games
has put world-class tech and talent at the centre of its planning and growth
and strives to revolutionise India’s role as a hub for world-class game
development.

To
know more, please visit https://www.lightfurygames.com/