South Korean gaming major Krafton, the developer of the popular multi-player battle royale game PUBG, is making India the hub of its emerging markets strategy, as the firm expands its global presence following its initial public offering in 2021.

It is looking to replicate its India approach across other emerging markets.
“India is like our hub for emerging markets. We feel our India strategy is very linked to our emerging markets strategy and we have a very different approach for the India market,” said Anuj Tandon, head, corporate development, India and Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Krafton.

The company has committed to investing more than $100 million in the startup ecosystem in India. In the last 10 months, the company has announced six deals totalling about $86 million across segments. These range from the recently announced investment in game studio Nautilus, game streaming platform Loco and e-sports firm Nodwin Gaming, to Indian language content firm Pratilipi.
“Emerging markets have their own flavour for media and entertainment, and you can’t typecast it. We feel Indian IP is going to be super important, not just in India but also globally in the next five to six years,” Tandon said.

This approach will eventually be replicated across other emerging markets.

In 2021, the company launched Battlegrounds Mobile India, the local version of PUBG.

Rather than focus on a pre-defined opportunity, Krafton is looking at opportunities across stages, with investments so far ranging from seed rounds to chipping in $48 million in Pratilipi.

“We have been very aggressive on the investment opportunity, and been very conscious with our strategy,” he said.

Krafton has also created a network of gaming and entertainment studios and companies across the world. “We are one of the highest transacting users in gaming in India,” he said.

There is a large white space in the interactive entertainment space, spanning video games, e-sports and tech platforms, which Krafton is looking to tap, he said.

The company will also consider taking properties from India to other emerging markets in future but does not have any immediate plans of developing games out of India.

“We have a different model and would want to support local studios and share our experience so they can thrive on a global stage,” he said.

While announcing the IPO, the company had said that it intends to attain a leadership position in high-growth markets like India and the Middle East, and that the strategy would be focused on expanding content to non-gaming media and platforms.

About 70% of the IPO proceeds would be used towards global mergers and acquisitions and 30% towards investments in new markets including India, the Middle East and North Africa.

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