Founder · Krafton

Byung Gyu Chang

Founder & Chairman of Krafton, a gaming company based in Seoul.

Founder · ChairmanSeoulGaming

About

Byung Gyu Chang is Founder & Chairman of Krafton, a gaming company based in Seoul, founded in 2007.

Compiled from StartupFox records · updates as coverage is published

Company

Est. 2007
Krafton
Gaming · Seoul · Active

Krafton is a South Korean video game company founded in 2007 as Bluehole and renamed in 2018, best known for PUBG and its Indian localisation Battlegrounds Mobile India. It listed in Seoul in 2021. India is among its most important markets, where BGMI has passed 260 million downloads, and it has backed roughly 18 Indian companies across gaming, esports, streaming, audio and creator marketing, acquired the Pune studio Nautilus Mobile, and runs the KIGI Academy game development programme with IIT Madras. It has committed more than $500 million to India in total.

Company profile →Profile

Journey with Krafton

4 milestones
  1. Sep 2020Milestone

    India bans PUBG Mobile alongside 117 other apps linked to China following border tensions. Krafton severs its Indian publishing relationship with Tencent and moves its India servers to Microsoft Azure.

  2. 2021Milestone

    Relaunches the game in India as Battlegrounds Mobile India, which goes on to pass 260 million downloads. It is banned again in 2022 and permitted to return in 2023 on a three-month trial.

  3. Mar 2025Milestone

    Acquires a controlling stake in Pune studio Nautilus Mobile, maker of the Real Cricket franchise, for $14 million.

  4. Sep 2026Milestone

    Commits a further $250 million to India over three to four years, extending into AI, robotics and deep tech, after chairman Byung Gyu Chang meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Coverage

1 story
Funding · 6 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Krafton Pledges Another $250M to India, Which Has Banned Its Flagship Game Twice