South Korean gaming giant Krafton on March 28 announced its first-ever acquisition in India, buying a controlling stake in Nautilus Mobile, a Pune-based game development studio owned by digital entertainment and technology firm JetSynthesys, for Rs 118 crore (approximately $14 million).
Krafton is buying "upwards of 75 percent stake" in the gaming studio, Krafton India's Corporate Development Lead Nihansh Bhat told Moneycontrol.
With this acquisition, Krafton, the maker of the popular battle royale title Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), looks to deepen its publishing and esports efforts in the country which is rapidly emerging as a major global gaming hub.
This deal comes about three years after Krafton initially invested $5.4 million in Nautilus Mobile, a gaming studio best known for developing the Real Cricket mobile game franchise, in February 2022.
"As an existing investor in Nautilus Mobile, we have witnessed the company's impressive growth and its ability to deliver world-class gaming content under JetSynthesys’ leadership. This acquisition is a testament to our long-term vision of making India a global hub for game development" said Krafton India CEO Sean Hyunil Sohn.
Founded in 2013 by Anuj Mankar, Nautilus Mobile has launched multiple gaming titles under the Real Cricket brand including Real Cricket 24, Real Cricket 22, Real Cricket Swipe, a lightweight version Real Cricket GO, and a legacy title Real Cricket Premier League.
The gaming studio has amassed over 350 million downloads so far. It was acquired by JetSynthesys in October 2020. JetSynthesys will remain a significant minority investor in Nautilus Mobile, and continue to work with the gaming studio on "strategically important areas, especially in eSports", the company said.
JetSynthesys founder Rajan Navani said "Krafton’s innovative capabilities will add great value to our highly talented team, led by Anuj Mankar, enabling JetSynthesys to further leverage this strength to build the e-cricket esports ecosystem in India, for India and the world, in the process scaling the already established GEPL (Global eCricket Premier League) to greater heights"
Enhancing the Real Cricket franchise
Bhat said that this acquisition will enable the gaming giant to do more development work in India.
"We have been seeing that the broader cricket audience is very big in India. However, the cricket video game market was not at the same level. We helped Nautilus in every way possible as a minority shareholder, but we realised that to fully unlock the potential of Nautilus and the Real Cricket franchise, we needed to increase our stake" Bhat said.
The initial focus for both companies will be to enhance the Real Cricket franchise, whether through gameplay improvements, strategic partnerships, or bringing Krafton's resources and expertise in areas like publishing to Nautilus Mobile, he said.
"Krafton has pure gaming pedigree and DNA, making them the right partners to do this. They understand what it takes to create a game and turn it into a success" Mankar told Moneycontrol.
"I'm going to be leaning on Krafton's shoulders in many ways, through collaborations, tapping into their tools and expertise, and monetize the game further" he said "Real Cricket, a product made in India for Indians, has the potential to become the first Indian sports game exported globally"
India is the fastest-growing games market in Asia, both in terms of revenue and gamers, according to Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm that covers video games, e-sports, and streaming in the continent.
The country's mobile, PC and console gaming market is expected to surpass $1 billion in revenue in 2025 and reach $1.4 billion in 2028, growing at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.1 percent, it said. These figures do not include revenues from real-money games or exports.
Other prominent cricket gaming titles in the country include Dream Sports' Dream Cricket 2025, Nazara Technologies-owned Nextwave Multimedia's World Cricket Championship, and Hitwicket, a cricket strategy game. Earlier this month, LightFury Games also announced its first big-budget cricket title called 'E-Cricket'.
Doubling down on partnerships
Nautilus Mobile will double down on its partnership strategy since it adds an "authenticity layer" to their cricket simulation games which will fuel the growth of the franchise, Mankar stated.
In August 2024, the gaming studio struck a partnership with World Cricketers' Association to bring the names, images, and likenesses of more than 250 professional cricketers to the cricket game. It also announced similar partnerships with five IPL teams including Mumbai Indians, Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Punjab Kings, to include official team logos, kits, and player likenesses to their titles.
"We will also be tapping into Krafton's eSports expertise, which directly fuels community engagement and growth" Mankar said.
Nautilus will also be strengthening its team, which Mankar notes will enable them to explore not only sports games but also titles in other genres over a longer term.
Krafton India is currently working on a project with Nautilus Mobile under a co-development model, Bhat said without disclosing any further details.
Krafton's India expansion
This acquisition will likely mark a key milestone in Krafton's journey in India, a market where it has invested over $200 million across several Indian startups in areas such as interactive entertainment, gaming, Esports, and technology, since 2021.
The company's investment portfolio includes mobile game development studio Lila Games, esports firm Nodwin Gaming, Indian language storytelling platform Pratilipi, audio content platform Kuku FM, influencer marketing platform One Impression, and more recently, payments solutions provider Cashfree Payments.
The firm also operates a gaming incubator, Krafton India Gaming Incubator, aimed at boosting game development in the country. The incubator had selected four startups as part of its inaugural cohort last year.
In recent years, Krafton has also expanded its portfolio by releasing several games across multiple genres in the country. This includes Bullet Echo India, Cookie Run India, Garuda Saga, Road To Valor: Empires, and Defense Darby, besides the flagship title BGMI.
Globally, Krafton currently operates over 14 in-house studios including PUBG Studios, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings, Dreamotion, Tango Gameworks and inZOI Studio.
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