Esports Nov 4, 2026 7 min read

KRAFTON Eyes Another Indian Studio, Plans Games Beyond PUBG From Bengaluru

KRAFTON India is in advanced talks to buy another Indian studio and will grow its Bengaluru team to 50 to build games beyond PUBG. What it means for esports.

staff · asdfasdg · 1d ago

KRAFTON, the South Korean publisher behind PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), wants its next global hit to come out of India. In an interview with Bloomberg published on November 3, 2026, KRAFTON India CEO Sean Hyunil Sohn said the company is in advanced discussions to acquire another Indian game studio and plans to grow its Bengaluru development team to as many as 50 people over the next two years. For Indian esports, which still leans heavily on a single KRAFTON title, the plan matters as much as any tournament announcement this month.

What happened

According to the Bloomberg report carried by The Economic Times, KRAFTON is ramping up investment in India and is in advanced talks to buy another studio in the country. The company has not yet found a second intellectual property with the reach of PUBG, and it sees India as one place to look for it.

"I firmly believe that India can produce globally recognized gaming IP," Sohn told Bloomberg News. "Given the potential talent pool, and given the quality of entertainment products coming out of India, I think it's getting widely accepted by global audiences."

KRAFTON currently has a core team of 12 people in Bengaluru working to diversify its catalogue beyond battle royale. Sohn said that team could grow to as many as 50 people over the next two years, with artificial intelligence helping to bridge India's shortage of experienced game developers. On acquisitions, he said: "We are trying to find and invest more in a team that has gone through at least one or two cycle of developments, so that there is a proven capacity."

TalkEsport reported that Sohn did not name a target, a price or a timeline for the deal. Korea's Financial News, citing Yonhap, carried the same figures for the Bengaluru team and the acquisition talks.

Key facts

| Detail | What has been reported |

| --- | --- |

| Who spoke | Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO, KRAFTON India |

| Published | November 3, 2026 (Bloomberg interview) |

| Acquisition | Advanced talks to acquire another Indian studio; no target, price or timeline named |

| Bengaluru team | 12 core members today, up to 50 within two years |

| India's weight | One of KRAFTON's top five markets by revenue |

| BGMI | Approaching 270 million downloads, per Bloomberg |

| Earlier studio deal | Controlling stake in Pune-based Nautilus Mobile (Real Cricket) |

| Investment so far | $250 million in Indian digital entertainment, gaming and fintech startups as of September |

| Next pledge | Another $250 million aimed at AI, robotics and deep tech |

The background

This is not KRAFTON's first move of this kind. It already owns a controlling stake in Nautilus Mobile, the Pune studio that makes Real Cricket. TalkEsport reports that KRAFTON paid $14 million in cash in March 2025 for more than 75% of the company. Bloomberg describes the purchase as a controlling stake bought last year.

The money side is also already public. In September 2026, KRAFTON said it would invest another $250 million in India on top of the roughly $250 million it had already put into the country, a pledge TechCrunch reported at the time. TalkEsport notes that the earlier investments went into around 18 Indian companies, including NODWIN Gaming and the streaming platform Loco.

What is new in this interview is the clear signal that KRAFTON wants Indian teams to build original games, not just support work, and that it is ready to buy an experienced studio to speed that up.

Why it matters

The facts above are reported. What follows is our analysis.

The biggest point for the esports community is concentration risk. BGMI carries Indian mobile esports. Its tournaments, from BGIS to BMSD and the recent BGMI International Cup, fill much of the competitive calendar, and many Indian organisations build their rosters, sponsorships and content around it. TalkEsport reminds readers that BGMI was blocked in July 2022 and only returned in May 2023. That pause showed how exposed the whole scene is when one title goes offline.

A publisher that wants more than one pillar in India is, in effect, trying to reduce that exposure for itself. If any new game from Bengaluru or an acquired studio reaches a large audience, the Indian scene could gain another title to compete in. That is a possibility, not a promise: KRAFTON has not said what genre its India team is building or whether any of it is designed for competitive play.

The second point is confidence. Large publishers expanding studios and doing acquisitions tend to follow a market they expect to keep growing. That fits with what other operators are saying. JioBLAST CEO Charlie Cowdrey recently told The Economic Times that India is moving towards a multi-game esports market.

Impact on Indian esports

For players and teams: BGMI is not going anywhere, and nothing in the interview suggests a change to KRAFTON India's esports calendar. In the medium term, any new competitive title would mean new rosters, new scouting and new prize pools. Teams with experience across several games would be best placed.

For game developers and students: A Bengaluru team growing from 12 to as many as 50 people is small in industry terms, but it means more roles on original projects. Sohn's own test for an acquisition, a team that has shipped at least one or two games, is a useful benchmark for studios seeking investment.

For organisers: A new title only becomes an esport if the publisher supports it with tournaments, spectator tools and licensing. Organisers should watch for KRAFTON's genre choices and any esports plans before investing. Any game offered as an esport in India must also be determined and registered with the Online Gaming Authority of India, as the government told the Lok Sabha in July (reported by Storyboard18).

For sponsors and brands: More publisher investment usually means more marketing and more events. Brands that already sponsor BGMI teams can expect the KRAFTON ecosystem in India to widen over time, not shrink.

Lessons for the ecosystem

  • Don't rely on one game. Organisations that build skills in two or three titles cope better when one game's calendar or status changes.
  • Track publisher strategy, not only tournaments. Hiring plans and acquisitions show where publishers will put esports money one to three years from now.

What's next

KRAFTON has not said which studio it is talking to or when a deal could close, so the next concrete step would be an announcement of that acquisition. Separately, the Bengaluru team's first original project, and whether it has any competitive angle, will show whether this strategy changes Indian esports or mainly Indian game development. On the esports side, KRAFTON India's BGMI calendar continues with the Battlin Open running through November 29.

Conclusion

KRAFTON's latest comments turn India from a big market for one game into a place where the publisher wants to build its next franchise. For esports, the real test is whether any of these new games become something Indian players compete in. Until then, BGMI remains the centre of the scene, but its publisher is clearly planning for a future with more than one pillar.

Sources

FAQs

Which studio is KRAFTON buying in India?

KRAFTON has not named it. Sohn said the company is in advanced discussions to acquire another Indian studio but gave no target, price or timeline.

Is KRAFTON replacing BGMI?

No. The plan is to build new games alongside BGMI, which remains KRAFTON's biggest product in India and is approaching 270 million downloads, according to Bloomberg.

How big will KRAFTON's Bengaluru team be?

It has 12 core members today, and Sohn said it could grow to as many as 50 people over the next two years.

Will KRAFTON's new Indian games be esports titles?

That hasn't been announced. KRAFTON has not said what genres its India team is building or whether any of them are designed for competitive play.

Tags #news#games#bgmi

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