BGMI maker Krafton debuts India-specific incubator to boost local game development

Krafton India Gaming Incubator will provide game developers with guidance, mentorship, and financial assistance ranging from $50,000-$150,000

Krafton, the maker of the popular battle royale titled Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), plans to incubate game development startups in India, a move that could strengthen its presence in the country and bolster India’s potential as a global gaming hub.

The initiative, called Krafton India Gaming Incubator, has been created specifically for the Indian market and will focus on early-stage startups, including those at the concept or idea stage, as well as for student teams and independent developers.

The virtual incubator programme will be led by former Gameloft and Glu Mobile executive Anuj Sahani and the South Korean gaming giant plans to support 6-10 teams every year.

Sahani told Moneycontrol that the new incubator will solely focus on game development, a change from Krafton’s investment strategy in India wherein it has backed startups in the broader digital entertainment and creator economy areas in recent years.

“We have looked at investment opportunities in India for more than three years. There are many (opportunities) such as eSports companies, gaming community platforms, and more. But to build an ecosystem, you should have a strong core, which is game development,” Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO, Krafton India told Moneycontrol.

The incubator will support games across various genres, themes, business models and platforms. Gambling and real money gaming-focused entities will however not be considered for the incubator, the company said.

Through this initiative, Krafton will look to help developers overcome some of the key challenges they face while launching and growing their startups, Sahani said. This could be either technical challenges, such as gameplay and game quality, or business challenges such as figuring out a monetisation strategy, and marketing games among others

Selected startups will get access to guidance and mentorship from local and global Krafton executives, game builders and industry experts from South Korea. Among the mentors include Dave Curd, Creative Director of PUBG Studios and Harns Kim, game producer at Krafton.

These startups will also get financial assistance ranging from $50,000-$150,000 along with access to the company’s internal resources including data analytics and market research, among others.

“Through the programme, we hope to further develop the country’s capabilities in game development. We are excited to nurture the next generation of gaming talent in the country as well as mentor them in line with the government’s ambition of skilling the Indian workforce and increasing employability” Sohn said.

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The programme duration will range from six months to one year. Startups can later choose to self-publish their game or choose a publisher like Krafton or any others.

Participants can also choose to raise venture capital from external investors during or after the programme concludes and they can also receive equity investment from Krafton.

For Krafton, this incubator could create a deal pipeline in game development, an area where it has made two investments so far (Nautilus Mobile and Lila Games) and is scouting for more opportunities.

“We have tried to identify investment targets in game development… we want to see a slightly larger pool of companies and developers, so that we can select someone who might fit into our culture or preference. I hope that this incubator will mean that India will have more number of game developers who are more diversified than before” Sohn said.

In August, Krafton had pledged to invest $150 million in Indian gaming and interactive entertainment startups over the next two to three years. This brings its total commitment to the Indian market to about $290 million, making it one of the most prolific strategic investors in the country in recent years.

In May 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment had launched a similar India-centric incubator programme called the India Hero Project, which aims to identify and support promising local developers with mentorship, training, access to the company’s internal resources, and project-based investment of a minimum of $100,000 to help them bring their games to the market.

The initiative supports games built for PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2) and personal computers (PC) with mobile games evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

India is the fastest-growing video games market in Asia, both in terms of revenue and gamers, with its mobile and PC gaming revenue projected to reach $868 million in 2023, according to Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm that covers video games, e-sports, and streaming in the continent.

This is set to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 17.2 percent to touch $1.58 billion by 2027. These figures do not include revenue generated by real money games.