South Korean gaming giant Krafton made its first debut in the Indian gaming studio market by investing $ 5.4 million in JetSynthesys owned game development studio Nautilus Mobile.

The latter is in hopes of introducing its cricket game Real Cricket to new markets through this partnership. On that note, the company plans to use the funds to maximize its marketing and distribution spends.

“Krafton is excited to invest in Nautilus as the first game development studio in India with whom we share a common goal of creating more unique sports gaming experiences for a passionate cricketing Indian audience,” said Sean Hyunil Sohn, India head of Krafton Inc.

It plans to seed the funds including Krafton’s experience to bolster its development capacity and capability. Whereas, Krafton will also look to learn from Nautilus which holds expertise in cricket, adds Sohn.

At the same time, the funds are expected to globally deepen Nautilus’ penetration into markets while broadening its scope to other games besides cricket.

Having expertise with another subsidiary, RisingWings, responsible for making sports games, helpful in monetization and game development, Krafton will work with Nautilus to help it expand beyond India and into the South Asian and Western markets on the publishing side.

Nautilus Mobile is a cricket game developer and publisher that was founded in 2013. JetSynthesys purchased the studio in October 2020. Nautilus Mobile currently has over 100 million downloads and 10 million monthly active users, according to the company (MAU). It should be highlighted that KRAFTON will own only a small portion of the company, with JetSynthesys controlling the remainder. To utilize the newly raised cash, the business has devised a three-pronged plan.

“With Nautilus, we have the aspiration of building India’s best gaming studio,” says Rajan Navani, CEO, JetSynthesys and chairman of Nautilus Mobile. "Krafton’s investment in Nautilus will let us unlock the journey that we believe is just the beginning of what the gaming industry will see moving forward".