Krafton: BGMI Hits 260 Million Users In India

Krafton has put a number on just how big BGMI has become in the country. At an industry breakfast event in Bengaluru, Seddharth Merrotra, Head of Partnerships at Krafton, said the battle royale has around 260 million registered users in India - players who have downloaded the game and signed up with their IDs.

BGMI Is 'India Ki Heartbeat'

Merrotra described BGMI as a mobile shooter built for India, and said the tagline "India ki heartbeat" came from the community itself rather than from a marketing team. If you have not tried it yet, you can install it from our Battlegrounds Mobile India download page.

Why Gaming Beats Passive Entertainment

His main point was about attention. In passive entertainment, the viewer just watches or listens. Gaming is interactive - players engage with the content directly, sit in longer sessions, and belong to a tight community around it. That difference is exactly what makes BGMI brand partnerships work when they are done right.

Brand Partnerships That Feel Native

Merrotra's rule is simple: a collaboration should feel like part of the gameplay, not an interruption of it. Some examples that came up:

• Mahindra: instead of a static picture of a car, Krafton added a driveable vehicle that players could use and unlock. It also landed as an Indian product inside an Indian game, riding the country's electric mobility buzz.
• Royal Enfield: rideable motorcycles, including familiar models, slotted in because vehicles already have a real job on the map.
• Sting: the drink replaced an existing energy item in-game, with missions and rewards tied to using it, while physical Sting bottles carried BGMI branding - so the association worked both in-game and on shop shelves.

Bragging Rights And Collectability

Why do players chase these virtual items? Merrotra says it comes down to status. A player may never own an aspirational vehicle in real life, but they can own it, use it and show it off inside the game and the community. That is the pull behind BGMI collectables.

Creators Carry The Community

Gaming KOLs and creators like Jonathan, Scout and Mortal remain huge figures for the BGMI community, and they are the ones who show off updates and new content to the wider player base.