LightFury Games (LFG), a AAA-focused game-tech studio, has raised $11 million in its pre-Series A funding round. Through this round, the 100-member studio has further strengthened its position as a high-potential player in the global gaming industry, combining deep creative talent with advanced technical expertise to develop premium, globally competitive games. Its investors include Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI, and Times Internet, along with strategic investments from leading members of the Indian cricket team.
Notably, in a strong endorsement of the company and its debut title ‘eCricket,’ globally recognised cricketers such as MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan have joined the funding round as investors. As a result, LightFury Games has gained unique athlete-backed momentum while building ‘eCricket,’ a AAA cricket game from India with global ambitions, scheduled for release in 2026 on mobile platforms.
At a time when cricket continues to rank among the most-followed sports globally, this backing significantly enhances the company’s positioning. Moreover, LightFury aims to capitalise on cricket’s massive global audience of over 2.5 billion fans by addressing a long-standing gap in the sports gaming category through a technically advanced, competitive, and live-service-driven cricket gaming franchise.
The company will primarily utilise the newly raised capital to complete game development and strengthen its live operations (live ops) infrastructure. Specifically, it will invest in post-launch systems, content pipelines, and scalable infrastructure designed to deliver a high-quality and continuously evolving player experience. Consequently, the studio aims to ensure long-term engagement and operational excellence in the highly competitive gaming ecosystem.
“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 does. 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.”
According to industry projections, the global gaming market is expected to surpass $400 billion in the coming years. Simultaneously, India’s gaming ecosystem is projected to reach $9.89 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 14.55% between 2026 and 2031. Therefore, LightFury Games is strategically positioning itself at the forefront of India’s emergence as a global game development hub. Over the past two years, the company has invested heavily in core development capabilities, infrastructure, and analytics systems to support continuous content creation, deeper player engagement, and scalable live operations.
“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 them,” said 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, 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.”
Technologically, ‘eCricket’ runs on Unreal Engine 5 and follows a mobile-first design approach. The game delivers a progression-driven experience, where real-time decisions shape evolving player journeys. Furthermore, its physics-based gameplay, strategic batting and bowling systems, and dynamic AI commentary aim to replicate real-world cricket dynamics. Additionally, broadcast-style presentation ensures each match feels unique.
Earlier this year, LightFury Games secured the global player roster license of over 600 professional cricketers, including Chris Gayle, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson, Pat Cummins, Jos Buttler, Travis Head, and Andre Russell. Consequently, this represents one of the largest player rosters ever assembled in cricket gaming.
Founded in 2024 by Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee, and Tina Balachandran, LightFury Games has quickly emerged as a premier AAA game-tech studio in India. Collectively, the leadership team has contributed to the development of more than 40 AAA titles, thereby bringing significant industry experience to the venture.
With this pre-Series A round, the company has successfully completed two funding rounds. Its investor base continues to include Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet, and strategic backing from prominent cricketers. Since inception, LightFury Games has prioritised world-class technology and talent as core pillars of its growth strategy, aiming to redefine India’s role in global game development.
