Esports celebrities are going to be superstars of the future: KRAFTON’s Srinjoy Das

KRAFTON, Inc, a South Korean gaming company and BGMI-maker, announced multiple Indian collaborations and gave a hint of some unique content in the pipeline. BGIS (BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA SERIES), which is a grassroots level tournament for amateurs and professionals and one of the biggest Esports tournaments in Southeast Asia features a prize pool of Rs 2 crore with the winning team set to win Rs75 lakhs. KRAFTON has partnered with JioCinema for broadcasting BGIS.

The Road To Valor: Empires Open Championship will have a prize pool of Rs 10 lakhs.KRAFTON is also hosting a friendly India-Korea Invitational Match wherein BGMI will be played by 8 winning teams from BGIS and 8 Esports teams from South Korea.

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) had already bagged the Bronze Lion at the Cannes Lions 2022 for its “Game Responsibly” campaign which appealed to the entire gaming community, parents and regulators all without using any dialogues and conveyed the message of continuous gaming while reiterating in-gaming safeguards initiated by BGMI.

“The superstars of the future are not just going to be actors and crickets, they are going to be esports celebrities. It is a sign of India adopting digital ways and means very rapidly when you see gaming turning from niche to counterculture to culture,” says Srinjoy Das, Associate Director, Marketing, KRAFTON India, adding that KRAFTON is addressing BGMI as a cultural session for the first time.

Upcoming campaigns

KRAFTON is a fan-first or a user-first company wherein live chats from KOL streaming, community platforms and all social media forums are regularly scanned to understand user sentiment, desires, and feedback.

On campaigns in the pipeline, Das talked about India Ki Boli –which is going to be the first experimental gaming ad with 50 Easter eggs within one ad. This ad was created by the community, says Das. Krafton rolled out a questionnaire asking people what they felt about the game and other questions like which helmet they wore. In an hour, close to 30,000 answers came, which created the genesis of the upcoming campaign.

Then there is India’s first gaming documentary ‘Indian Faction’ in the pipeline. “I cannot promise something that Naughty Dog has made, but I can promise you that this is the first time this is happening. Hopefully, in the next 5-10 years we reach where Sony and Microsoft have reached in creating high-quality documentary experiences,” he says.

The launch of the Indian Faction is Road To Valor: Empires is KRAFTON’s first attempt not just within India but also globally to incorporate local culture into a global game. In collaboration with the South Korean team, the Faction was developed and brought to life through cross-collaboration. It has crossed 400,000 downloads in India.

Setting Laga Na campaign with its trademark BGMI humour, inspired by a Netflix ad, is also in the pipeline. The campaign which features a character called Jugadu Jignesh is on educating people about putting the right settings in their phones so that they worry less about lags and settings to have an enhanced gaming experience.

All In – You can be a superstar too campaign plays on the theme BGMI is the only way if one wants to be a superstar in gaming. This campaign which chronicles the story of a young guy is expected to come before Diwali.

Earlier campaigns

Sharing his insights on some campaigns in the recent past, Das speaks about the docuseries - India Ki Heartbeat which was a challenge as the brand did not want the fans and gamers to feel bored when they were watching the documentary. Krafton went to 14 small towns spread throughout India and collected 12 really unique stories – including the story of a differently abled man who has lost all his limbs and is one of the biggest streamers in BGMI.

“Our goal is never about getting views. A lot of digital brands say they are fans-first but it doesn’t show up in their actions. When we are generating a campaign, we go through the livestreams and check what the fans are saying. We look at the live chats and check out the inside jokes,” shares Das. BGMI’s latest Raksha Bandhan ad has a lot of inside jokes that only BGMI fans can understand and relate to and feel like they are a part of the counterculture.

For Mother's Day, too, Krafton came out with a unique campaign for the BGMI community. To celebrate moms in India who encourage their kids to pursue gaming and streaming, Krafton got two creators and one stand-up comedian and put them on the sidelines. The campaign features their moms as the protagonists who share anecdotes about their kids and their love for the game. “These things give us organic love and this is our goal,” says Das.