Retrospective GST and offshore gambling are twin threats for gaming: EY’s Ashish Pherwani
Ashish Pherwani, Partner, media & entertainment sector, EY India emphasizes the need for regulatory clarity in gaming, the evolving monetization models shaping India’s creator economy, and the storytelling gaps holding back Indian content on the global stage.
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India’s gaming and creator economies are poised for significant growth, with the potential to become major pillars of the country’s global soft power. However, policy ambiguity and taxation challenges continue to hinder scalability, says Ashish Pherwani, Partner, media & entertainment sector, EY India.
“Retrospective GST and offshore gambling are twin threats slowing the sector’s growth,” he notes, emphasising the need for regulatory clarity and a stable framework to ensure long-term expansion and investor confidence.
In a conversation with Storyboard18, Pherwani emphasizes the need for regulatory clarity in gaming, the evolving monetization models shaping India’s creator economy, and the storytelling gaps holding back Indian content on the global stage.
Edited excerpts:
India’s creative economy is growing fast, but many creators still seem stuck on platform dependence. Do you see viable business models emerging beyond brand deals and platform payouts?
Earlier, creators depended on TV and movies for distribution, which was limited. Digital gave them scale and independence. That created the creator economy.
Now, there are only three monetization models:
Ad revenue from platforms like YouTube or Reels
Brand-funded content (AFP)
Transactions, like subscriptions or paid content — if you're really good, people will pay to hear you.
Will large studios play a bigger role now?
Yes. Big media companies have realized their talent pool is full of creators. Take Star — 80 channels, each with 5 recurring characters. That’s 400 influencers right there. Studios will now deliberately create more influencers. This will reshape the economy. Larger stars may get a fixed volume of ads at a high value, but smaller influencers will get a high volume of work at mulch lower values.
But isn’t AI intensifying competition for creators?
AI is a different issue altogether. If a creator has a following, they’ll still monetize. At the core, media is just the transmission of a message from a brand to an audience. The channel, whether it's Star TV, Spotify, YouTube, or a gaming podcast, doesn’t change the equation.
Gaming is booming, but ad innovation still feels skewed toward fantasy and RMG. Are we building games for cultural exploration or just gambling?
Why do people play games? Two reasons: escape and self-actualization.
Self-actualization is powerful. Why do people post “Humbled to moderate a panel at Storyboard18” on LinkedIn? It’s the same drive behind fantasy leagues or poker — proving you’re good. Media used to be about escape and information. Now it’s also about identity, validation, achievement. That’s why gaming demand will never dip.
We talk a lot about India’s soft power but globally, anime and K-content dominate. What’s stopping Indian content from going global?
We have talent and great stories. What we often lack is the story craft that resonates globally. Think of it like this: Out of 10 layers needed to build great content, we have 9. That 1 missing layer — narrative direction, VFX, global pacing is increasingly being imported, while the rest stays Indian.
Look at Prime Focus’s Ramayan. The stunt teams and VFX are foreign. But the story, actors, production are all Indian. We’re building a global product. This will become more common.
What’s one bottleneck slowing scale in media and gaming — policy, talent, or market maturity?
The biggest one is regulatory uncertainty. We need clarity: what's legal, what’s not, what are the tax rates? Most urgently, the threat of retrospective GST must go.
The second issue is the massive spread of illegal offshore gambling sites. They don’t deduct TDS or pay GST; therefore more Indian money flows there. If you just shut down legal platforms without regulation, that offshore flow will skyrocket.
