Krafton, the game developer behind widely popular titles such as PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), is reportedly preparing for a major expansion in India.
The South Korean gaming giant has announced that it will invest $50 million annually, and make strategic acquisitions to strengthen its foothold in the country, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Krafton has already invested around $200 million in Indian digital content platforms, which makes for nine per cent of its total global investments. Earlier this year, Krafton acquired cricket game developer Nautilus Mobile for $14 million. It also led a $53 million funding round for fintech company Cashfree Payments.
“It is not easy to come up with a big hit like Battlegrounds again. But it is our key challenge to develop another hit game,” Sean Sohn, Krafton’s India head, was quoted as saying in the report. “India is a tough market. Users are not so receptive to new games and are reluctant to spend much on games. But they show strong loyalty once they get to enjoy a game,” he added.
Krafton’s India push comes years after the central government’s crackdown on 59 Chinese apps, including PUBG Mobile, Garena Free Fire, TikTok, WeChat, etc., following border tensions with China in 2020. China-based Tencent Games was PUBG Mobile’s distribution partner in India. While most of these apps remain banned in the country, Krafton managed to bring PUBG Mobile back in 2023 under the rebranded Battlegrounds Mobile India, backed by fresh assurances on users’ data privacy and security.
Meanwhile, the newly introduced online gaming law looks to bolster esports and online social games that do not involve wagering in the country.
The number of gamers in India increased by 12 per cent to 444 million last year, with over 30 per cent of them spending money on games, according to market research firm Niko Partners. India’s gaming sector is still in the early stages, as it is currently valued at just a fifth of South Korea’s $14.4 billion market. However, it also has a demographic edge with 65 per cent of its 1.4 billion population under the age of 35.
Story continues below this ad
As for Krafton, India ranks among its top five markets globally, accounting for roughly 10 per cent of the company’s record $1.1 billion in sales for the first half of 2025. This is largely due to the surge in popularity of Battlegrounds, which is a multiplayer battle royale game where users fight to the death on a remote island.
BGMI has over 200 million users in the country and generates annual global sales of Won 10 trillion (approximately $8.9 billion), according to the FT report.
0
0
Average Rating