Ahead Of BGMI Return, Krafton Launches Esports Channels For India

South Korean game developer Krafton has launched its esports YouTube channel and Instagram page for India, Krafton India Esports.

The company said the channel is aimed at fostering the growth of the Esports ecosystem in the country.

“India has always been an important market for us, and we are committed to nurturing the esports ecosystem in the country. With our dedicated Esports channels and upcoming tournaments we look forward to bringing engaging experiences and growing together with our gaming community in the country,” Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of Krafton India, said,

Further, marking the launch of the esports channel, Krafton said it is hosting a series of Road To Valor: Empires matches on May 26. It will also organise developer vs player matches every Friday for its flagship titles.

The development comes at a time when Krafton launched a new mobile game Road to Valor: Empires in India earlier this year and its popular battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) is all set to return to India.

Road to Valor: Empires has been developed by Dreamotion, a South Korean game development studio acquired by Krafton in 2021 for an undisclosed sum.

The new gaming title is a real-time player vs player strategy game that is also available in Hindi.

Moreover, Krafton said last week that the Indian government has allowed BGMI operations in India. However, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Twitter that this is a three-month trial approval of BGMI after it complied with issues of server locations and data security, among others.

India’s gaming market was valued at $2.6 Bn in FY22 and is expected to grow to $8.6 Bn by FY27 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27%, as per a report. Interestingly, Indians spent an average of 8.5 hours per week on mobile games in FY22.