LightFury Games (LFG), an Indian AAA-focused game tech firm behind the upcoming game title ‘eCricket’, has secured significant investments from some of the world’s most prominent cricketers. MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan have all joined LightFury’s current round of funding, supporting the company’s goal of building an internationally competitive cricket game brand from India.
LightFury’s eCricket, which will be available on mobile in 2026, lies at the heart of this groundbreaking advancement in the cricketing globe. Cricket currently has a worldwide audience of more than 2.5 billion people, yet the genre still lacks a defining, premium, internationally significant cricket game franchise. LightFury is developing eCricket to bridge that gap by providing a technically advanced, competitive, and live-service-driven experience from India.
The game, which is built on Unreal Engine 5 and geared for mobile play, is being created as a premium, competitive cricket experience that attempts to replicate the sport’s depth, urgency, rhythm, and decision-making. From smart batting and bowling techniques to physics-based action, dynamic AI commentary, and broadcast-style presentation, eCricket is designed to capture the scope and intensity of modern cricket for a worldwide gaming audience. Along with the strategic endorsement of top cricketers, LightFury Games has received an additional US$11 million in funding. The 100-member studio combines strong creative talent with outstanding technological capabilities to create premium, internationally competitive games. Its supporters include Blume, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet, and strategic investments from renowned Indian cricketers.
On what stood out to him about eCricket, 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. A change of pace, a shift in angle, one good decision under pressure can change everything. That depth is not easy to bring into a game. eCricket is taking that challenge seriously, and I’m glad to support a team trying to raise the standard.”
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.”
The participation of prominent cricketers demonstrates a significant acceptance of that objective. LightFury believes that this brings together people who understand cricket at a high level and see the possibility for the sport to be depicted with considerably more ambition in interactive entertainment.
“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.
“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.”
