Krafton Pumps $250 Million More Into India Beyond BGMI

Krafton is putting serious money where its BGMI business already is. The South Korean company confirmed a fresh Krafton India investment of $250 million on September 4, 2026, which takes its total direct India spending to roughly $500 million. Chairman Chang Byung-gyu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi around the same announcement, and the two spoke about deeper collaboration in gaming and technology.

Where The New Money Is Going

This round is not a BGMI top-up. Krafton says the capital will be deployed over three to four years and will chase artificial intelligence, robotics and deep tech startups instead of gaming alone. The idea is to build a second revenue stream that does not depend on one battle royale title.

• Deployment period: three to four years
• Target sectors: AI, robotics, deep tech
• Separate from Krafton's existing $433.5 million India venture growth fund built with Naver and Mirae Asset

Krafton has already backed around 18 Indian companies, four to five of them gaming studios, with stakes in Nodwin Gaming, Loco, Pratilipi, Kuku FM and One Impression.

Why Krafton Wants To Look Past BGMI

The BGMI story explains the caution. PUBG Mobile was banned in India in 2020, relaunched as a localized BGMI in 2021 with infrastructure on Microsoft Azure instead of Tencent, was banned again in 2022, and returned on a trial basis in 2023. It has since crossed 260 million downloads, and a lighter BGMI Lite is planned by the end of 2026. If you have not installed it yet, you can grab it from our Battlegrounds Mobile India download page.

That franchise still carries regulatory risk, which is exactly why the company is widening its bets. India's scale makes the case easy: over 700 million smartphone users and a billion internet subscribers.

Building Local Capacity, Not Just Writing Cheques

Krafton is also investing in people and studios on the ground. The KIGI Academy is being set up to train game development and software engineering talent, and the company recently acquired Pune-based Nautilus Mobile, the maker of Real Cricket.

For players, the shift does not change much right now - BGMI and the upcoming BGMI Lite remain the main touchpoints. But if you are building a studio or a deep tech startup in India, Krafton has just made it clear there is a lot more capital on the table. The risk profile of that pivot, though, is largely untested for a company whose India business still leans heavily on one game.