LightFury Games has added Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma as an investor and officially licensed player for its upcoming mobile cricket title, eCricket. The Bengaluru-based AAA-focused game studio announced the partnership while preparing for a phased closed beta rollout in September 2026. The investment amount was not disclosed, but it deepens the startup's ties to some of India's most prominent cricketers.
Cricketers Align Behind Indian Game Development
Sharma becomes the eighth marquee cricketer to invest in LightFury Games, joining MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan. His involvement extends beyond an in-game presence, as the studio expects his competitive mindset and understanding of elite cricket to inform the product experience. LightFury described his participation as a defining milestone for its vision of building authentic cricket gaming from India.
The announcement arrives as eCricket shows early momentum, with more than 300,000 users already signed up and its latest teaser surpassing one million views over a weekend. The teaser spotlights Ultimate Squad, a mode that lets players assemble teams from a roster of more than 700 officially licensed cricketers from around the world. Former Indian cricketer and television personality Navjot Singh Sidhu will also appear as one of the game's official commentators.
Building a Social and Competitive Cricket Experience
eCricket is being developed to combine competitive gameplay, authentic cricket physics, broadcast-quality presentation, licensed players, and high-fidelity visuals with social and multiplayer features. The studio says the game is designed to bring communities together and give players freedom to create their own competitive cricket journeys. Early closed beta participants will gain hands-on access and provide feedback that directly shapes development ahead of a wider launch later this year.
For LightFury Games, the closed beta represents a shift from anticipation to active community participation. The company wants players to feel like contributors to the game's evolution rather than passive users. This approach, combined with the Ultimate Squad roster and official commentary, is central to its ambition of creating a globally competitive cricket gaming franchise.
Funding and Leadership Credentials
LightFury Games was founded in 2024 by Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee, and Tina Balachandran, whose leadership team has collectively worked on more than 40 AAA titles. The company employs more than 120 developers and industry professionals. In April, it raised $11 million in a pre-Series A round from Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI, and Times Internet, with participation from several cricketer investors.
Before that, the studio raised an $8.5 million seed round led by Blume Ventures in 2024. The capital is being used to develop eCricket and strengthen live operations, infrastructure, and content pipelines for post-launch growth. LightFury has now completed two funding rounds and continues to scale its team as it prepares for the game's global release.
India's Expanding Gaming Opportunity
LightFury is targeting an estimated 2.5 billion cricket enthusiasts worldwide with a product built in India for a global audience. India's gaming market is expanding beyond battle royale and casual games, with 511 million gamers recorded in 2025 and revenue growing 14.8 percent year on year to reach $1.04 billion. The studio sees this as an opportunity to establish India as a hub for high-quality game development.
Rohit Sharma's involvement with LightFury Games reflects a growing convergence between Indian sports celebrity and technology entrepreneurship. The partnership also marks his second disclosed startup investment this year, following his backing of fitness platform Fittr in June. With strong early signals and a global cricket audience in view, LightFury is positioning itself to deliver a defining interactive entertainment franchise from India.