KraftonSouth Korean gambling giants known for titles including PUBG: Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI)He has acquired a share share in 12 -year -old Indian gambling studio Mobile nautilus for $ 14 million in a cash deal.
On Friday, South Korea’s gambling company confirmed to TechCrunch that it has acquired a “north of 75% share” in Nautilus, the game studio popular for Real Cricket’s franchise enthusiastically.
Pune -based studio will continue to operate independently after the deal, which is expected to close by the end of the month, with all 45 employees remaining in Nautilus’s payroll, Krafton told TechCrunch.
Founded in 2013, Nautilus has garnered millions of downloads for Cricket’s real franchise, which currently has five titles, including Real Cricket 24 and Real Cricket Premier League.
Krafton aims to boost Nautilus’s “basic capacity” in mobile cricket games-where demand is high in India that loves cricket-with the improvement of existing short-term titles and exploring new species in the long run, he said in a new species interview.
“Our Nautilus development capacity will help Krafton double India’s gambling strategy and, together, we can probably build more games, more species, both for the Indian market and the global forward market,” said Nautilus Anuj Mankar CEO.
The company plans to expand the presence of Nautilus to other geographical areas over time.
India’s mobile game market is steadily increasing, driven by a large base of new smartphone users. Mobile games dominate the country’s overall gaming industry with expense, accounting for 77.9% of total revenueper Niko Partners Market Information Company. The company also estimates that revenue from the country’s mobile games will increase from $ 640 million in $ 2023 to $ 1.1 billion by 2028.
Krafton, who saw 119.3% development on an annual basis Last year’s net profit in about $ 889 million ($ 1.3 trillion KRW), India considers India as a promising and basic market to continue its success. However, most of India’s growth has so far come from the flagship title for the local audience, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), which hit the highest sales of last year and last year exceeded 200 million shots.
The company has other titles, including Bullet Echo India, Road to Valor and Cookierun. However, they have not yet helped to repeat the success story of the Battle Royale game, a local version of PUBG.
The deal could help Krafton go beyond BGMI and explore new ways of success, including cricket and other sports games, to attract new players.
In 2020, the Indian Digital Entertainment and Technology Company Jetsynthesys acquired 100% share In Nautilus Mobile. Followed Krafton’s Strategic investment of $ 5.4 million in 2022.
Sohn told Techcrunch that while Nautilus’s potential was the reason for the original investment, Krafton found that its role as a minority that limits interested parties in supporting the development of studio content. The acquisition of control, he said, would allow deeper cooperation and greater participation in the basic development efforts with Nautilus.
“We firmly believe that cricket games have a lot of potential and we want to work with Nautilus to make the best effort to truly realize the potential of this market, not only in India, but also in other cricket nations and other countries, told TechCrunch.
Jetsynthesys will remain an “significant minority” investor in Nautilus Mobile and will continue to work with the studio in areas, including esports. The company has already worked with the studio to help work with the actual cricket game with cricket teams, including them is related to Indian Premier LeagueThe most lucrative cricket tournament in the world in India.
“We will want, for a long time, we will want to consider, of course, increased revenue, increasing users base, improving maintenance, all ordinary things and hopefully new agreements,” Bhat said on how Krafton will measure the success of the deal.
Until now, Krafton has invested more than $ 200 million in India, with the exception of Nautilus Mobile.
Krafton’s 20% investments in India are in game and toy companies, although the company also invested in Indian newly established businesses, including the Payments Cashfree platform, the Kuku FM sound platform and the Influencer Marketing platform. He also supported funds, including the game-in-line Inflatable and the first Imm Investment India fund.
“We are considering the opportunity for acquisitions, moderate investment and even business cooperation with remarkable players in the country,” Sohn said.
Nautilus will participate in the other 14 Krafton game studios operates in markets around the world.
