Krafton acquires majority stake in India's Nautilus Mobile to expand beyond BGMI
Summary
Krafton acquires a north of 75% stake in Indian cricket game studio Nautilus Mobile for $14M in an all-cash deal
The move signals Krafton's push to diversify its India portfolio beyond its single dominant title, BGMI
Nautilus brings the Real Cricket franchise - 5 titles, millions of downloads - targeting India's cricket-passionate mobile audience
India's mobile gaming market is projected to grow from $640M (2023) to $1.1B by 2028, making it a high-priority expansion zone
"Our development capability in Nautilus will help Krafton double down on its India gaming strategy, and together, we can probably build more games, more genres, both for the Indian market and global market going forward"
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Deal structure - $14M all-cash controlling stake acquisition
Krafton acquires north of 75% stake in Nautilus Mobile for $14M in an all-cash transaction
Deal expected to close by end of March 2025
Nautilus continues to operate independently post-acquisition, all 45 employees remain on Nautilus payroll
JetSynthesys, which acquired 100% of Nautilus in 2020, retains a significant minority stake and continues esports collaboration
This follows Krafton's initial $5.4M strategic minority investment in Nautilus in 2022
Krafton cited minority status as limiting its ability to support content development - controlling stake enables deeper dev collaboration
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Strategic rationale - cricket as the gateway to new Indian audiences
Nautilus is the studio behind the Real Cricket franchise - 5 titles including Real Cricket 24 and Real Cricket Premier League
Cricket games represent a high-demand, underdeveloped niche in India's mobile-first gaming market
Short-term plan: refine existing Real Cricket titles and strengthen core competency in cricket games
Long-term plan: explore new genres for both Indian and global markets
"We strongly believe that cricket games have a lot of potential... not just in India, but in other cricket-playing nations and other countries which are becoming more active in cricket"
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India market context - mobile gaming on a strong growth trajectory
Mobile games account for 77.9% of total gaming revenue in India (Niko Partners)
India mobile gaming revenue projected to grow from $640M (2023) to $1.1B by 2028 ↑
Krafton's net profit grew 119.3% YoY to approximately $889M (KRW 1.3 trillion) in 2024
BGMI hit its highest-ever sales in 2024 and surpassed 200M downloads - but remains Krafton's sole major India success
Krafton's other India titles - Bullet Echo India, Road to Valor, CookieRun - have not replicated BGMI's scale
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Krafton's broader India investment posture - $200M+ deployed
Krafton has invested over $200M in India (excluding the Nautilus deal)
20% of India investments are in gaming and gaming-adjacent companies
Portfolio includes: Cashfree (payments), Kuku FM (audio), One Impression (influencer marketing)
Also backed funds: gaming-focused Lumikai and IMM Investment's first India fund
Nautilus becomes Krafton's 15th studio globally
"We are looking at the opportunity for acquisitions, moderate investments, and even business collaboration with notable players in the country"
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What's next - geographic expansion and new deal benchmarks
Krafton plans to expand Nautilus' presence beyond India to other cricket-playing nations over time
Success metrics include: revenue growth, expanded user base, improved retention, and new licensing or IP deals
JetSynthesys' existing IPL team partnerships with Real Cricket provide a commercial foundation to build on
Krafton signals continued appetite for acquisitions, minority investments, and business collaborations in India
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