Krafton’s Strategic Investment in India’s Gaming Landscape

The launch of PUBG Mobile, later restructured as Battlegrounds Mobile India after it was prohibited by the government, marked a pivotal moment for the country’s gaming industry.

Regarded as one of the country’s most popular games, BGMI is managed by Krafton India – the Korean publisher’s branch focused on this region – and continues to drive the company’s strategy in the area.

During my time at the India Game Developer Conference, I had a discussion with Krafton India CEO Sean (Hyunil) Sohn, who is also responsible for operations in MENA and previously worked at the company’s headquarters.

Our dialogue examined how the PUBG brand engages with this market, the opportunities that lie ahead, and how India integrates into Krafton’s global strategy. The following interview has been condensed for brevity and clarity.

How significant is the Indian market for Krafton?

It has been three and a half years since we initiated our operations in India. The primary product that we’re providing is BGMI – Battlegrounds Mobile India – which represents the Indian version of PUBG Mobile. This accounts for over 95% of our revenue from India.

We also have a corporate venture team that has invested around $170 million into India’s startup ecosystem, including gaming, esports, and digital content platforms. So that’s a brief overview of our activities in India.

In terms of global revenues, India generates about 10%, give or take. Not as substantial as Korea, China, or the US, but the market is growing at a double-digit rate while the global gaming market – particularly in more mature markets like China or the US – grows only by around 3% or 4% annually.

Compared to other international gaming companies, we made a significant investment in the Indian market, and we now have a large team based solely in Bangalore.

What are the key lessons you have learned since establishing in India?

From the publishing perspective, one of the lessons we’ve learned – we kind of knew this beforehand, but now we understand it much more clearly – is that India still has yet to develop a more [diverse preference for games].

“We are very fortunate that we have a strong, significant cash cow [in BGMI]”

Undoubtedly, shooter games like BGMI are extremely popular here, along with card games and traditional board games like Ludo or Rummy – these enjoy considerable popularity in India, but other genres such as strategy, MOBA, and sports remain significantly smaller than in the global market. We’ve released new strategy games, and we have also invested in a sports game company called Nautilus Mobile [developer of Real Cricket], but this has not been very large. So you need to be a bit patient, and also you have to provide something very tailored to local preferences. Otherwise, the ROI may not be as favorable as in other larger markets.

How do you create games that resonate with the Indian market effectively?

We are very fortunate that we have a strong, significant cash cow [in BGMI] that supports the team and allows us to utilize those financial resources to introduce more titles to the market. We have that capability. However, you need to have a local team on the ground.

It’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma of whether you should generate substantial enough revenue from the market to justify your investment in establishing a team or dedicating a great deal of your time to managing the market – but we have the chicken anyway, so we can try to lay more eggs.

How have you approached BGMI differently compared to PUBG Mobile?

The fundamental gameplay remains the same, but there are adverse perceptions towards gaming [in India] in general and shooter games like BGMI in particular. Therefore, we attempted to introduce safeguards or solutions to address the concerns that the government or general public may have. Additionally, we sought to localize the game better so that people don’t feel too uncomfortable, and we aimed to modify or remove certain global elements for the Indian market.

[Editor’s note: Changes include rephrasing ‘Kills’ to ‘Finishers,’ removing blood effects, and adding a warning before each match stating that this is a virtual simulation not based on the real world. There are also age restrictions, time limits for younger players, and BGMI players can only compete with other users in India.]

BGMI has been credited with driving a shift in India, encouraging players to spend less time on monetized games and more on midcore titles. We’ve also seen a range of Indian-developed competitors to BGMI emerging. What is it about the game that is making midcore more popular, and what can companies do to capitalize on this?

Indian gamers have a very high demand for quality gaming content, and there are very few local game developers who can truly create a game that meets that standard. There are a number of good gaming studios in India, but what they are producing may not be substantial or impressive enough to satisfy local demands.

Indian gamers are still trying to play global games more, but international game companies do not generally pay enough attention to the local preferences of the market. I believe there are very few international gaming companies like us that have a local team and can implement differentiated marketing strategies for the consumers.

And while there is an increasing number of gamers enjoying midcore games, that doesn’t imply that there aren’t many other games that can be quite successful right now. Sports games like FC Mobile and eFootball, alongside racing games like Asphalt 9 and Need for Speed, are doing increasingly well. Therefore, we can observe that gamers are presently looking for that type of game.