Bollywood’s Gaming Kraft: Can Krafton roar loudly on the back of Tiger?

Everybody loves a good fight, especially if you happen to be the maker of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI). But can roping in Bollywood biggies such as Tiger Shroff trigger a good fight for South Korean gaming giant Krafton, which has been feverishly wooing audiences beyond hardcore gamers?

Seddharth Merrotra draws the line between ‘noise’ and the ‘roar.’  While the former is confined to sound, the latter denotes impact. A string of high-profile collaborations with celebrities—be it Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh or Hardik Pandya—was not meant to create noise, avers the head of business development at Krafton India, the Indian arm of the South Korean gaming giant.  “The partnerships are rooted in our user-first, India-centric approach to collaborations,” says Merrotra, who recently roped in Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff as the face of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), which has had over 240 million downloads in India. Every tie-up, he underlines, is geared towards scaling influence, deepening community connection, and driving business metrics. “Every integration is designed to add value to gameplay,” he adds.

Okay, agreed. But can endorsements by celebrities widen the user base of the brand, which has hardcore gamers at its core? Merrotra explains the method behind the apparent madness. First, it helps in audience expansion and repositioning. Each collaboration helps the brand break beyond the ‘hardcore gamer’ niche and tap into adjacent audiences such as fan bases of film, music, and celebrity culture. “In doing so, we shift BGMI from a pure gaming product into a lifestyle and cultural brand,” he says.

Second, the tie-ups fuel reach via earned and creator media. Collaborations, points out Merrotra, didn’t just generate push content. They triggered a wave of user-generated content, creator spin-offs, and organic participation across YouTube, Instagram, and other channels. “We observed pronounced upticks in key metrics during these activation windows,” he says, adding that reactivation rates pole-vaulted, in-game engagement jumped, and campaign periods delivered on the order of tens of millions in social impressions.

BUILDING, ENGAGING & THE BHARAT OPPORTUNITY

Third, the strategy builds long-term brand equity and retention. “We’re not chasing momentary spikes,” says Merrotra. By anchoring BGMI in popular culture, the company is building associative relevance and making it more likely for users to stay engaged over time. “We are turning tactical campaigns into sustained brand momentum,” he reckons, adding that authenticity works as trust currency. Collabs reinforce storytelling, which translates directly into deeper affinity and trust. “That’s critical in gaming, where communities are highly discerning,” he says.

Fourth, by fusing celebrity collaborations with strategic phygital activations, Krafton India is trying to weave BGMI into the country’s cultural DNA. Take, for instance, the tie-up with Hero MotoCorp. It brought Hero Xtreme 160R and 125R bikes into BGMI as playable vehicles, and mirrors that with real, limited-edition BGMI-branded Hero bikes on the Indian roads. Then there is another interesting association with Mahindra. It brought an electric SUV into BGMI’s virtual world with exclusive skins, missions and a real-world contest to win a BE 6. “We linked virtual aspiration to tangible ownership,” says Merrotra. With celebrities coming in, he underlines, BGMI becomes more than a game. “It’s a lived cultural moment, visible both on screen and in the real world,” he reckons.

Krafton India, reckon marketing and branding experts, is playing a smart game in terms of partnering with celebrities. “It will help them piggyback on the fan base and popularity of the celebrities,” says Ashita Aggarwal, professor (marketing), at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research. If any brand has to achieve mass appeal, then it needs to smartly ride the celebrity tailwinds and fan across smaller towns and cities. The future, indeed, lies in Bharat. The gaming and interactive media segments are projected to triple to $7.8 billion by FY30, growing 1.5x faster than the overall market on the back of innovation and tier II and III adoption, according to the latest study by Redseer Strategy Consultants and BITKRAFT Ventures. Titled “The Gaming and Interactive Media Opportunity in India,” the report dives into the forces shaping India’s new entertainment economy. Gaming, esports, audio storytelling, social discovery, and emerging AI-driven platforms are redefining how Indians connect, create and consume, it notes. India’s tier II, highlight the study, is emerging as the growth engine. “Bharat’s digital consumers are not just watching or playing. They’re co-creating,” the study reckons, adding that platforms are responding with hyper-local storytelling, immersive formats, and creator-first monetization models. “This is a big opportunity for Krafton to widen its appeal and woo non-hardcore gamers,” says Aggarwal of SP Jain Institute of Management & Research.

EASIER SAID THAN DONE

The task, though, won’t be easy. Association with celebrities can help grab eyeballs. But would they also result in monetisation? “The jury is still out on how much a celeb can convert demand into sales,” says Aggarwal. “It’s one thing to like, and another thing to spend money to show your love,” she adds. Then there is the crude reality of the growing gaming ecosystem in India.

Merrotra of Krafton India is aware of the challenges. While India’s gaming landscape is vibrant and fast-evolving, it’s still maturing in infrastructure, perception, and monetization. “Balancing accessibility with responsible growth remains a key focus,” he says, adding that the company is trying to address the challenges through long-term investments, partnerships, and ecosystem building. One such attempt is via Kraton India Gaming Incubator (KIGI), which supports 10 Indian startups. “We are helping develop local talent and Ips,” he says, claiming that Krafton has invested over $200 million in India’s gaming and tech ecosystem, and continues to expand its commitment. “The goal is simple: to help India evolve from a consumption market into a creator-driven powerhouse,” he says.

Doable? Absolutely. But it will take time, patience and hard yards for the gaming tiger to roar. Is Krafton ready for the long game?