Krafton Doubles Down on India Beyond Gaming

Krafton has committed another $250 million toward investments in India, extending well beyond gaming as the South Korean firm behind Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) chases opportunities across the country’s wider technology and digital ecosystem. The pledge, confirmed on September 4, 2026, brings Krafton’s total direct India investment to roughly $500 million.

The announcement came alongside a meeting between Krafton Chairman Chang Byung-gyu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the two discussed deeper gaming and technology collaboration. The fresh capital will be deployed over three to four years, separate from Krafton’s existing $433.5 million India-focused venture growth fund built with partners Naver and Mirae Asset.

This round shifts focus. Rather than gaming alone, the money will target artificial intelligence, robotics and deep tech startups, part of a deliberate push to build a sustainable secondary revenue stream beyond BGMI, which remains Krafton’s dominant India franchise. The company has already backed around 18 companies in India, including four to five gaming studios, with stakes in Nodwin Gaming, Loco, Pratilipi, Kuku FM and One Impression.

BGMI’s own history explains why diversification matters to Krafton. After India banned PUBG Mobile in 2020 amid tensions with China, Krafton relaunched a localized version as BGMI in 2021, routing infrastructure through Microsoft Azure instead of Tencent. The game was banned again in 2022, returned on a trial basis in 2023, and has since crossed 260 million downloads; a lighter version, BGMI Lite, is planned by the end of 2026.

Krafton is also building local capacity beyond capital, launching the KIGI Academy to train game development and software engineering talent, and recently acquiring Pune-based Nautilus Mobile, maker of Real Cricket.

The strategy reflects India’s scale: over 700 million smartphone users and a billion internet subscribers make it central to Krafton’s global growth plans. But the company’s India business still leans heavily on BGMI, a franchise with a track record of regulatory disruption, meaning the pivot into AI, robotics and deep tech carries a different, largely untested risk profile for the firm.