Media, telecom & entertainment
The game has to prove it is a game.
Studios, publishers, esports teams and leagues, platforms and the communities around them, where the law now draws a hard line between play and stakes, and between players and children. We design sign-up, store, community and tournament experiences that keep games on the right side of that line, with honest pricing, real age assurance and moderation people trust.
Where the rules biteMap of all forty-one industries
What is shifting
India banned online money games and their advertising, recognised esports, and tightened duties on children’s data; Europe set principles for in-game currencies. Each shift names what it demands, with a fact you can check.
It demandsGame economies and tournaments designed without stakes, from entry fees to rewards.
SignalThe Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 bans games played for money or other stakes — virtual coins bought with money included — and their advertising.
It demandsTournaments, teams and broadcasts organised so they can be recognised and registered.
SignalUnder the 2025 Act, an e-sport is recognised under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, registered with the gaming Authority, and involves no betting.
It demandsStores that show the real-money price of every item and never force bulk currency.
SignalOn 21 March 2025, the EU’s consumer-protection authorities published key principles requiring in-game prices to be shown in real money.
It demandsAge assurance, parental consent and child-safe defaults built into sign-up and play.
SignalThe DPDP Act requires verifiable parental consent for anyone under 18 and bars tracking, behavioural monitoring and targeted advertising directed at children.
The rulebook
The online-gaming law, the IT Rules, the dark-pattern guidelines, the data law and Europe’s consumer principles for games, read for a studio or a platform. Your legal team keeps sign-off.
Frameworks we build to
Frameworks we design and build to — not a claim of certification.
Shapes most of the work
Central Consumer Protection Authority
Advertising a game as free without saying that continued play needs in-app purchases is drip pricing; nagging, false urgency and subscription traps are named too.
We designStore, pass and offer screens are audited against all thirteen patterns before each season.
CCPA · Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 30 November 2023 Official text: CCPA dark-patterns guidelines, 2023
EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network
In-game prices shown in real money, no forced bulk purchases of currency, clear information before purchase, and design that respects children’s vulnerability.
We designStores show the real-money price of every item and sell currency in amounts players actually need.
CPC Network · Key principles on in-game virtual currencies, 21 March 2025 Official text: EU principles on in-game virtual currencies
Advertising Standards Council of India
Creators and streamers disclose any material connection with a publisher — payment, free items or other benefits — clearly on the stream or post.
We designCreator programmes carry the disclosure label in every brief and overlay.
ASCI · Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media Official text: ASCI guidelines for influencer advertising
Shapes most of the work
Ministry of Electronics and IT
Bans offering, advertising and funding online money games — skill or chance, played for money or other stakes — with penalties of up to three years and ₹1 crore; e-sports and online social games are recognised and promoted.
We designEconomies, entry fees and rewards are designed and documented so the game stays clear of stakes.
Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 (Act 32 of 2025, assent 22 August 2025) · sections 2 to 9 Official text: Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025
Ministry of Electronics and IT
E-sports are registered with the Online Gaming Authority of India; asking whether a game is a money game is largely voluntary, and complaints run from the provider to the Authority and then on appeal.
We designTournaments are prepared for registration, and the complaints route is designed into the game.
Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026 (reported in force from 1 May 2026)
Ministry of Electronics and IT
Platforms publish their rules and a grievance officer, act on complaints within set timelines, remove unlawful content within three hours of a lawful order, and label synthetic media.
We designReporting, appeals and labelling are built into the community from launch.
IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 · amendments to 10 February 2026 Official text: IT Rules, 2021, as amended
Often shapes the work
PCI Security Standards Council
Card data protection for stores, passes and subscriptions, including the requirements on payment-page scripts in force since 31 March 2025.
We designPayment pages ship with a script inventory and change detection.
PCI SSC · PCI DSS v4.0.1 Official text: PCI DSS v4.0.1
Shapes most of the work
Ministry of Electronics and IT
Verifiable parental consent before processing the data of anyone under 18; no processing that harms a child’s well-being, and no tracking, behavioural monitoring or targeted advertising directed at children.
We designSign-up recognises minors and switches to parental consent, child-safe defaults and untargeted play.
DPDP Act, 2023 · section 9 · DPDP Rules, 2025 (core obligations from 13 May 2027) Official text: DPDP Act, 2023 — children’s data
Compiled 3 October 2026. Our reading of typical programmes, not legal advice. Rules change; your counsel confirms how each one applies to you.
Challenges
The problems that surface in nearly every gaming & esports programme: the ones customers feel, and the ones teams carry.
Prices shown in real money, and progress that does not depend on paying more.
Chat, voice and creator spaces free of harassment and scams.
Getting into a game fast without letting children skip the protections meant for them.
What we build
A typical programme here draws on each discipline in this mix. Every line names what it builds for the industry and links to the capability that does the work.
Platforms, moderation tooling, payments and data built to hold under live-ops peaks.
Sign-up, store, community and tournament experiences designed for fair play and real age assurance.
Launches, creator programmes and tournament broadcasts with every partnership disclosed.
Moderation and player-support assistants with evaluations, appeals and people deciding sanctions.
Player lifecycle and live-ops messaging on one consented record, with children kept out of targeting.
Studio, team and league identities that work on a jersey, a stream overlay and an app icon.
Programmes
The way in walks sign-up, the store and the community the way players do, and checks each step against the gaming, consumer and data rules. Lengths are typical, never promised.
The way in
We sign up, buy, compete and report the way players do, and check every step against the online-gaming law, the dark-pattern rules and the children’s-data duties.
What it hands over
02Project · 8–12 weeks
A store and economy that show real-money prices, avoid forced bulk purchases and keep progress fair, tested with players.
MovesRefunds and chargebacks per 1,000 purchases
Services: End-to-end UX & UI design · User research & usability testing
Enquire about Fair store and economy design03Milestone · 4–9 months
Reporting, moderation queues, appeals and transparency reporting, with AI triage and people deciding sanctions.
MovesReports resolved within the target time
Services: Custom CRM or operations platform · Custom AI agent or copilot · AI assistant experience design
Enquire about Trust and safety platform04Project · 8–12 weeks
Identity, overlays and fan journeys for a tournament or league, with sponsorships that fit the new law.
MovesViewer-to-registered-fan conversion
Services: Logo & identity system · Motion & sonic identity · Campaign platform & big idea
Enquire about Esports league and broadcast identityHow success is measured
The number we moveDay-30 player retention
AI, under the rules
Each use case has an owner, an evaluation set and a log; no model targets a child or bans a player on its own.
Use case 01
Measured byReports resolved within the target time
Tested forOWASP LLM06 · Excessive agency
Ships only with its evaluation set, its guardrail and an owner
Use case 02
Measured byTickets resolved without an agent
Tested forOWASP LLM01 · Prompt injection
Ships only with its evaluation set, its guardrail and an owner
Use case 03
Measured byRelease notes approved first time
Tested forOWASP LLM09 · Misinformation
Ships only with its evaluation set, its guardrail and an owner
Work and insights
We publish gaming & esports projects only once a client signs off the write-up. Meanwhile, here is the reading that applies.
A typical programme · composite
A mobile studio rebuilt its store and sign-up so every item shows its real-money price, under-18 players move to a parental-consent flow with child-safe defaults, and tournament rewards carry no stakes.
Anonymised and illustrative: the shape a programme takes, never a named client.
Nothing published on gaming & esports yet. Ask us what we are seeing in the industry.
Ask usQuestions
Something else on your mind? Ask us directly
It can. The Act bans games played for money or other stakes — including virtual coins bought with money — in the expectation of winning money or other enrichment. A game offered for entertainment, even for a subscription or one-time fee, can be an online social game, provided no payment is a stake or wager. Where your design sits is for your counsel; we design economies that stay clear of stakes.
With age assurance at sign-up, verifiable parental consent, child-safe defaults and no tracking or targeted advertising directed at children, and with parents able to see and limit spending.
AI can triage at the scale games need, but trained moderators decide every sanction and appeal. We build the queues, evaluations and transparency reporting around that.
Yes: identities, broadcast overlays, fan journeys and sponsorship formats for teams, leagues and tournament organisers, designed for recognition under the 2025 law and with no betting involved.
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Tell us what you’re building. We’ll answer straight.
01About 2 minutes
You get A reply from a lead, not a sales queue
02About 8 minutesMost useful
You get Options and a first scope after one call
03About 15 minutes
You get Receipt confirmed and a named bid lead
Every engagement starts with a written scope and a quote agreed before work begins. How each package is priced
