Game maker Neptune targets India in digital advertising push

Neptune's corporate logo / Courtesy of Neptune

Korean mobile game developer Neptune said Friday it has established a new India-based subsidiary, sharpening its push into the fast-growing global ad tech market and betting on the South Asian country’s vast gaming audience.

The mobile game developer said the new entity, KRAFTON Ad Platform India Pvt. Ltd., will serve as a strategic hub to expand its ad tech platform business overseas, one of Neptune’s three core growth initiatives.

The India unit, based in New Delhi, will be directly led by Neptune’s chief executive, with a senior executive from KRAFTON’s India operation appointed as a resident director, the company said. Neptune said it aims to quickly scale its presence through close coordination with its parent company, KRAFTON.

The move underscores Neptune’s focus on India, the world’s most populous nation and one of the fastest-growing gaming markets. Central to that strategy is Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), a flagship mobile title published by KRAFTON that has amassed 260 million cumulative users, according to the company.

Neptune said it plans to leverage BGMI’s traffic, as well as premium external media channels linked to KRAFTON, to secure a differentiated advertising inventory and strengthen its data capabilities.

The company said it will also seek synergies with its hybrid casual game publishing business, jointly pursued with KRAFTON, integrating data from both operations to build a fully in-house ad tech ecosystem.

“Marketing costs for user acquisition are rising faster than ever, adding pressure on app and game companies,” the company said. “In this environment, companies with in-house ad tech platforms will become more competitive.”

The company added that it aims to build a data-driven integrated ad tech platform globally, starting with India.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.