Krafton gets a controlling stake in Indian Gaming Studio Nautilus Mobile for $ 14 million

CraftonGaming giant in South Korea, known as addresses, including Pubg: Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI)She acquired a 12 -year -old Indian Game Studio Nautilus Mobile For 14 million dollars in the deal of all engraving.

On Friday, the South Korean Games for Techcrunch confirmed that it had acquired a “75 % share of 75 %” in Nautilus, the famous game studio in its true Cricket concession, which focuses on the cricket game.

Krafton told Techcrunch that the Pune -based studio will continue to work independently after the deal, which is expected to be closed by the end of the month, with all its 45 employees remaining in Nautilus salaries.

Nautilus was founded in 2013, NAUTILUS got millions of downloads for its real Cricket concession, which currently contains five titles, including Real Cricket 24 and Real Cricket Premier League.

Krafton aims to enhance the “basic efficiency” of Nautilus in mobile chicks-where the demand is high in Cracit India-while improving its current short term and exploring new species in the long run.

“Our ability to develop in Nautilus will help Krafton to weak India games strategy, and we may most likely build more games, and more types, both for the Indian market and move forward in the market,” Anuj Mancar, CEO of Nautilus, told Techcrunch.

The company plans to expand the presence of Nautilus to other geographical areas over time.

The mobile phone market in India is growing steadily, driven by a large base of young smart phone users. Mobile phone games dominate the country’s total games through spending, which represents 77.9 % of the total revenueFor every market intelligence company Niko Partners. The company also estimates that the country’s mobile revenues will grow from $ 640 million in 2023 to $ 1.1 billion by 2028.

Crafton, who saw 119.3 % growth on an annual basis In a net profit last year to nearly $ 889 million (KRW 1.3 trillion), India sees a promising and key market to continue its success. However, most of the growth from India came so far from its main title for the local audience, Battlegrouments Mobile India (BGMI), which amounted to its highest sales ever last year and Exceeds 200 million downloads.

The company has other titles, including Bullet Echo India, Road To Valor and Cookierun. However, they have not yet helped repeat the success story of the Battle Royale game, a local version of PUBG.

The Krafton deal can bypass BGMI and explore new ways of success, including cricket and other sports, to attract new players.

In 2020, the Indian entertainment and digital technology company Jetsynthesys I got a 100 % stake In Nautilus Mobile. This was followed by Crafton A strategic investment of $ 5.4 million In 2022.

Sohn Techcrunch told that although NAUTILUS was the cause of initial investment, Krafton has found his role as a minority department that limits in terms of support for the development of studio content. He said that obtaining a controlling share will allow deeper cooperation and greater participation in the basic development efforts with NAUTILUS.

“We believe a firm belief that cricket games have a lot of capabilities. We want to work with Nutelos to make the best possible effort to achieve the capabilities of this market, not only in India, but in other cricket countries and other countries, which have become more active in the cricket game,” said Nihan Bhatt, the development of Krafton India.

Jetsynthesys will remain an “important minority” investor in Nautilus Mobile and will continue to work with the studio in regions, including electronic sports. The company has already worked with the studio to help the real cricket partner with cricket teams, including those Associated with the Indian Premier LeagueThe most profitable cricket championship in the world in India.

“We will want, for a long time, to look, of course, to increase revenues, increase the base of users, improve retention, and all the usual things, and we also hope new deals as well.”

So far, Krafton has invested more than $ 200 million in India, with the exception of Nautilus Mobile.

Krafton’s 20 % investments in India in Games and Games Company were, although the company also invested in Indian startups, including the payment platform CashfreeSound platform Kuku FMAnd influential marketing platform One impression. It also supported the money, including focusing on games Lumikai and The first investment fund in India.

Sun said: “We are looking for the opportunity to acquire moderate investments and even trade cooperation with prominent players in the country.”

Nautilus will join 14 Game Studios Krafton working on markets around the world.