KRAFTON (CEO CH Kim) began recruiting participants on September 22 local time for the fourth cohort of the KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator (KIGI), a program designed to build India's game development ecosystem, expanding its support scope to include late-stage development projects.
KRAFTON (CEO CH Kim) launched recruitment for Cohort 4 of the KRAFTON India Gaming Incubator (KIGI) on September 22 local time to foster the Indian game development ecosystem. While continuing its policy of backing early-stage ideas and teams, Cohort 4 marks the first time the incubator has broadened its support scope to include games with significant development progress.
KIGI is a initiative launched by KRAFTON in 2023 to discover local developers and help them build global competitiveness. Selected startups receive comprehensive support—including business funding, mentoring from industry experts, and connections to global platforms—to materialize original ideas and expand into international markets. For Cohort 4, eligibility criteria across both mobile and PC platforms have been significantly expanded. On mobile, projects that have conducted beta testing or soft launches and demonstrated promising early metrics are now eligible. For PC titles, applications are open to games that have released a demo on Steam and proven player interest through wishlists or awards. This expansion aims to strengthen the foundation for discovering and nurturing Indian gaming IP by offering tailored support at every stage of development.
Results from previous KIGI cohorts are also coming to fruition. First-cohort participants completed development and achieved soft launches, while Cohort 2 studio Singular Scheme released its action tower defense game Frontier Paladin on Steam on April 24, creating KIGI's first commercialized PC game. The four studios that joined Cohort 3 in April—Xod Games Studio, EvolX Games, Ether, and RedDevil Studio—are also actively progressing through development.
In addition, KRAFTON is investing heavily in expanding the local industry foundation through talent development. On September 1, the company partnered with prestigious Indian university IIT Madras to launch the KIGI Academy, an industry-academic collaboration program. The fully funded, six-month curriculum covers all aspects of game production, including coding, game design, UI/UX, and art. Out of 30 students in the first class, 10 will be granted a two-month hands-on internship at KRAFTON India. Furthermore, drawing on operational know-how from its talent training program KRAFTON Jungle, KRAFTON provides mentoring tailored to local market conditions.
Anuj Sahani, Head of KIGI at KRAFTON, said, "KIGI's goal is to provide promising Indian game developers with the necessary resources and direction to build globally competitive games. In Cohort 4, while continuing our support for first-time teams, we will also back games that have already validated player and community response, walking alongside creators through the entire process from ideation to market release."
Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of KRAFTON India, stated, "The number of creators in India developing games targeting global audiences is growing rapidly. KRAFTON will contribute to establishing India as a creative hub for the global gaming industry by providing tailored support suited to each phase of development."
Meanwhile, KRAFTON Chairman Chang Byung-gyu met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 4 to discuss the growth potential of the local gaming market and long-term support initiatives. KRAFTON plans to continue actively supporting new ventures in the region to build a sustainable gaming ecosystem.
