Krafton doubles down on India with another $250M bet beyond gaming
Krafton doubles down on India with another $250M bet beyond gaming
Krafton 再注资 2.5 亿美元加码印度，业务版图超越游戏领域
Krafton, the South Korean gaming company behind titles including PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), plans to invest another $250 million in India over the next three to four years as it pushes beyond gaming into AI, robotics, and deep tech. 韩国游戏公司 Krafton（旗下拥有《绝地求生》和《Battlegrounds Mobile India》(BGMI) 等知名游戏）计划在未来三到四年内向印度再投资 2.5 亿美元，旨在将业务从游戏领域扩展至人工智能、机器人和深科技领域。
Announced Friday, the new commitment will take Krafton’s total planned investment in India to more than $500 million, including the over $250 million it had already invested in the country since 2021. The funds also come in addition to Krafton’s commitment to a $670 million India-focused growth fund it unveiled with South Korean internet conglomerate Naver and investor Mirae Asset in December 2025. At the time, Krafton said it would contribute around $137 million at the fund’s first close. The new $250 million pledge is separate from the growth fund, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. 这项于周五宣布的新承诺，将使 Krafton 在印度的计划投资总额超过 5 亿美元，其中包括自 2021 年以来已投入该国的 2.5 亿多美元。此外，这笔资金并不包含 Krafton 此前承诺参与的、于 2025 年 12 月与韩国互联网巨头 Naver 及投资机构 Mirae Asset 共同推出的 6.7 亿美元印度增长基金。当时，Krafton 表示将在该基金首次募集时出资约 1.37 亿美元。公司向 TechCrunch 确认，此次新增的 2.5 亿美元投资与该增长基金是相互独立的。
India has become a key market for Krafton, giving the gaming publisher access to the world’s most populous country, with more than a billion internet subscribers and over 700 million smartphone users. Krafton initially built its India business around gaming, led by BGMI, a revamped and localized version of PUBG that has surpassed 260 million downloads. In recent years, the company has also used investments in Indian startups to broaden its business beyond games. 印度已成为 Krafton 的关键市场，使这家游戏发行商得以进入这个全球人口最多的国家，这里拥有超过 10 亿互联网用户和 7 亿多智能手机用户。Krafton 最初以游戏为核心在印度开展业务，主打产品是《绝地求生》的改版本地化游戏 BGMI，其下载量已超过 2.6 亿次。近年来，该公司还通过投资印度初创企业，将业务范围从游戏扩展开来。
Krafton’s run in India has not always been smooth. The Indian government banned PUBG Mobile in 2020, along with hundreds of Chinese-linked apps, as tensions between New Delhi and Beijing escalated. Krafton stepped in after that and introduced BGMI in 2021. The company dropped Tencent Games as the game’s publisher in India and moved its India servers to Microsoft’s Azure cloud, changes that came as Krafton worked to address New Delhi’s concerns. However, in 2022, BGMI was itself banned in India, before the federal government allowed it to return on a three-month trial basis the following year. Krafton has continued to build around the franchise since its return and plans to launch BGMI Lite in India by the end of 2026. Krafton 在印度的发展之路并非一帆风顺。随着新德里和北京之间紧张局势升级，印度政府于 2020 年封禁了《PUBG Mobile》以及数百款与中国有关的应用程序。此后，Krafton 介入并于 2021 年推出了 BGMI。公司终止了腾讯游戏作为该游戏在印度发行商的合作，并将印度服务器迁移至微软 Azure 云平台，这些举措旨在解决新德里的顾虑。然而，BGMI 本身在 2022 年也遭到印度封禁，直到次年联邦政府才允许其以三个月试运行的方式回归。自回归以来，Krafton 一直围绕该系列进行建设，并计划在 2026 年底前在印度推出 BGMI Lite。
Despite the early setbacks, Krafton continued to invest in India and has so far backed about 18 companies, including four to five gaming studios, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Its investments include Nodwin Gaming, Loco, Pratilipi, Kuku FM, and One Impression, among others. 尽管早期遭遇挫折，Krafton 仍持续在印度进行投资。公司向 TechCrunch 确认，迄今为止已支持了约 18 家公司，其中包括四到五家游戏工作室。其投资组合包括 Nodwin Gaming、Loco、Pratilipi、Kuku FM 和 One Impression 等。
The new investment commitment comes after Krafton chairman Chang Byung-gyu met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier on Friday. The two discussed opportunities for India and South Korea to work more closely across gaming, technology, and other emerging sectors, Krafton said. 此次新的投资承诺是在 Krafton 董事长张炳圭（Chang Byung-gyu）周五早些时候在新德里会见印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪（Narendra Modi）之后做出的。Krafton 表示，双方讨论了印度与韩国在游戏、技术及其他新兴领域加强合作的机遇。
Krafton has also been building out its local operations. Last year, it acquired Pune-based Nautilus Mobile, the studio behind the Real Cricket franchise. The company also recently launched KIGI Academy, an industry-academia program aimed at training talent in game development and digital creation. Krafton 也在不断完善其本地运营。去年，公司收购了位于浦那的 Nautilus Mobile，这是《Real Cricket》系列游戏背后的工作室。此外，公司最近还启动了 KIGI 学院，这是一个旨在培养游戏开发和数字创作人才的产学研项目。