Krafton expands incubator, to take over user acquisition for startups

Chennai: Krafton is sharpening its push into India's fledgling game development ecosystem, expanding its startup incubation programme to help early-stage game studios market and distribute their titles. The South Korean gaming giant has launched the third cohort of its Krafton India Gaming Incubator (KIGI), onboarding four startups, including one building a PC game. Each studio will receive up to $150,000 in funding, along with mentorship from industry veterans. In a notable shift, Krafton will now directly handle performance marketing for these startups, moving beyond its earlier advisory role.Anuj Sahani, head of KIGI and director of publishing at Krafton India, said most startups are working with limited resources and hire only for core development and rarely have dedicated marketing teams. "Previous startups struggled to identify their markets and acquire users. Having learned from those experiences, we changed the structure of our workshops and designed them around live operations, not just building the game," he said.Sahani added that Indian gaming startups are maturing and could gain traction in global markets with successful intellectual property or game titles within five years. Krafton funds the program from its own balance sheet without taking equity stakes, as part of its broader strategy to build a nascent game development ecosystem in India. It may publish a startup's game or use their services down the line.The launch of a PC title by Mumbai-based Singular Scheme marks the first PC game to emerge from the incubator. Of the 10 studios supported since 2023, two have reached soft launches, two others shut down operations, and the rest have seen moderate results. In the year-long program, each team receives funding of up to $150,000, along with mentorship from functional experts covering game mechanics, user interface design, testing, market insights and connections to investor networks.
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