Krafton Accelerates Entry into Indian Market... Reduces Dependence on China

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Krafton is accelerating its push into the Indian market. The game launched in India, ‘Battlegrounds Mobile India,’ has gained popularity from the start, emerging as Krafton’s new key market. Ahead of its listing on the Korea Exchange next month, this move is expected to demonstrate its overseas expansion planning capabilities while reducing its dependence on China.

◆ Two Attempts at Entering India = According to Krafton on the 21st, Battlegrounds Mobile was officially launched in India on the 2nd of this month. The cumulative number of users surpassed 34 million within a week of launch. The daily peak number of users reached 16 million, and the maximum concurrent users hit 2.4 million. These achievements were made in a single market on Google Play.

This is Krafton’s second attempt at entering the Indian market. Initially, the distribution of PUBG Mobile in India was handled by the Chinese game company Tencent. However, following a border dispute between India and China last year, the Indian government banned 118 Chinese mobile apps, including PUBG Mobile, forcing it to withdraw from the market.

Krafton reclaimed publishing rights for the Indian region from Tencent and established an Indian branch in November last year to directly manage publishing and responsibilities. Krafton independently succeeded in making a comeback in India.

Krafton plans to expand its PUBG intellectual property (IP) in India by hosting various related tournaments. First, Krafton will hold India’s first esports tournament, the ‘Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021.’ The tournament will run for three months from next month through October. A total of 1,024 teams selected through preliminary rounds will kick off the competition. The first-place team will receive 5 million rupees (approximately 77 million KRW). Additionally, prizes will be awarded to participants such as the ‘Tournament MVP’ and ‘Longest Survivor.’

◆ Capture the ‘Blue Ocean’ of 1.4 Billion Indians = The reason Krafton is focusing so much on the Indian market is that India is regarded as a ‘blue ocean’ that can replace China. With a population of about 1.4 billion and increasing smartphone penetration, expectations for the market are high.

Until now, Krafton has relied heavily on China, especially Tencent, for a significant portion of its revenue. According to Krafton’s securities report, consolidated sales in the first quarter were 461 billion KRW, of which 71.8%, or 331 billion KRW, came from Tencent. By reaffirming the possibility of success in India, Krafton has largely addressed concerns about its high dependence on China.

Krafton is also expanding investments, focusing on the global success potential of local Indian IP. On the 14th, Krafton invested a total of 45 million USD (approximately 51.5 billion KRW) in India’s largest web novel platform, Pratilipi. Pratilipi has 30 million monthly active users (MAU) and 370,000 authors, making it India’s largest web novel platform. It offers services in 12 Indian languages and has recently accelerated collaborations with related companies to provide various types of content, including not only web novels but also general books, animations, and TV series.

In March, Krafton invested 22.5 billion KRW in NODWIN Gaming, India’s leading esports company, and in June, it participated with various investors in a 9 million USD (approximately 10.1 billion KRW) seed round investment in Loco, India’s leading game streaming platform. The total amount Krafton has invested in Indian IT companies this year reaches 70 million USD (approximately 80.2 billion KRW).

A Krafton representative said, "We plan to continue investing not only in games but also in related fields such as technology and media to support the growth of the Indian gaming industry."