Krafton —the company behind BGMI, The Callisto Protocol, Road To Valor: Empires, and Defense Derby— has pledged to invest significantly in India. The company has announced that it will invest around Rs 12.42 billion or $150 million in India over the next 2-3 years.
The company said it will invest in the Indian gaming and startup ecosystem in India, focusing on content platforms and deep tech. The company has previously invested around Rs 11.6 billion or $140 million in 11 Indian startups and the gaming industry in the last three years. Let’s take a look at the latest announcement from the company.
Krafton Commits a Significant Investment to India
Notably, Krafton has been treading rough waters in India after it was banned by the Indian government in September 2020, along with 117 other Chinese-origin apps. It was banned because of sharing user data with its Chinese division under Tencent. The Indian government deemed it a national security threat under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Since then, the company has made considerable efforts to make a comeback in the country because India was a massive market for them. According to a Sensor Tower report, BGMI —called PUBG back then— had a whopping 175 million installations in India alone, accounting for 24% of global installations. Therefore, the company went to the extent of moving its base from China to South Korea under Krafton, renaming the game to Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) with India-specific content, shifting servers to Microsoft Azure, and was finally allowed to relaunch for a 3-month trial period.
The latest investment decision comes at a time when the trial period is set to expire in two weeks. The huge Rs 12.42 billion investment could be a way for Krafton to appease the authorities to approve the game to stay on past the trial period. Notably, BGMI remains India’s most famous battle royale title and the defacto choice for the esports industry.
The game continues the legacy of PUBG Mobile, has amassed a whopping 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store alone, and is trending at number 1 in strategy on the App Store. We can see why Krafton would like to stay in the Indian gaming industry longer.
Krafton has invested in companies beyond game development studios in India since its initial investment in March 2021. Today, the company has invested in diverse fields like audio platforms, content platforms, multimedia platforms, and esports. The company is now expanding its horizon with investments in the creator industry and deep tech with the latest investment.
