With an investment of 16.4 billion rupees of US$22.4 million alone, Battlegrounds Mobile India creator Krafton’s investment in the Indian market is likely to blow up the gaming market! The company had previously planned to invest in India in the form of US$100 million.

India has recently been recognized as an emerging market for large games. According to data from statista.com, the value of the Indian gaming industry in 2020 is about 90 billion rupees and will reach 143 billion rupees by 2022. This increased by 530 billion rupees (an increase of 169.8% in two years).

In most cases, any investment in an Indian gaming company is positive, but due to slightly suspicious facts related to the company involved, many people doubt the legitimacy of the transaction and the influence it may have on the Indian gaming industry.

To put these doubts to rest, you must first consider several facts. If facts from Entrackr (a website that tracks Indian startups and new technologies) are to be believed, this investment will result in Krafton now holding 15% of Nodwin Gaming. Nodwin Gaming’s parent company Nazara is still the majority shareholder because it still owns more than 50% of the shares.

This move shows that Krafton intends to enter the Indian market, but some facts may make people question Krafton’s decision. First, Krafton’s Director of Corporate Development in India is a former employee of Nodwin’s parent company Nazara. There are also allegations that Nodwin paid college students to fill seats in ESL One 2019.

The first impression left was that the deal was to cancel the seat of PUBG mobile devices in India. Krafton Game Union had previously tried to work with Airtel, Jio, and Paytm to ensure this result. However, all these agreements have not been implemented. When Krafton took over PUBG’s distribution responsibilities in India, they signed an agreement with Microsoft to run the game’s servers instead of resorting to servers maintained by Tencent.

Although PUBG mobile was banned in India, PUBG on other platforms is not banned, and unlike other platforms, PUBG mobile version is distributed and managed by the Chinese tech giant Tencent, not by Krafton Game Union, which originated in South Korea. The consequences of the PUBG mobile phone ban led them to cancel their deal with Tencent in the Indian market because Krafton claimed that they would bring PUBG Mobile back to India.

Even though the investment of Rs 164 crores is huge, it is only equivalent to $22.4 Million and that opens doors for more investments into the Indian market by Krafton as the company had previously stated that they were willing to commit $100 Million to India in the form of investments in the gaming industry. The company also carried out a seed funding worth $9 million in the gaming live streaming platform Loco and other investors.

Just looking at the facts related to Krafton, PUBG, and Nodwin, doubts are difficult to dispel, but from a larger perspective, it is important to remember that India is seen as an emerging market for games. Given that the Indian gaming industry is experiencing such rapid growth, it is not surprising that the Krafton Gaming League is seeking to enter. Although they are interested in lifting the PUBG mobile ban, the lifting of the ban may not be the reason for the investment. At best, lifting the ban will only be seen as a potential benefit. Even if the ban is effective, Krafton is unlikely to fail. As for the problems with the close relationship between Nodwin Gaming’s parent company Nazara and Krafton, they are more in line with conspiracy theories and are therefore difficult to prove.

Krafton’s recent investment should be seen as a sign of the future, and they may invest more in more Indian game companies. These investments may include companies occupying different areas of the industry. Several other big players in the gaming industry may also make similar decisions to Krafton Game Union and invest in Indian game companies, or try to establish their subsidy in India.