KRAFTON India’s Head of Corporate Development and Investments Announces His Departure

KRAFTON India’s Head of Corporate Development & Investments (India & MENA) Anuj Tandon took to social media on 12th October to announce that he’s parting ways with the company after a stint of nearly two years. Expressing his gratitude to the company and his colleagues, Anuj Tandon confidently stated that this would be India’s decade in interactive entertainment and technology and also added that the region of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the next big global gaming market. Tandon has been an influential figure in the Indian game publishing business and was also the CEO of YOOZOO GAMES’ India division for four years before he joined KRAFTON.

Anuj Tandon’s post on social media

Anuj Tandon announced on LinkedIn and Twitter, “Next week would be my last in KRAFTON India as Head of Corp Dev & Investments (India & MENA) - Its been a privilege that in a stint of 1.9 years I had the opportunity to build an ecosystem in India for Gaming+ (M&E, Deep Tech) and hopefully created an impact.”

He recalled KRAFTON’s journey so far and talked about building strategies for the company in India and MENA, closing deals, and building a portfolio of investments worth more than $135M USD with most of it pooled into India, with a very lean team. Tandon thanked CEO Changhan Kim for “trusting an entrepreneur/operator to lead their investment strategy & execution for the region” and also expressed his thanks to his team at KRAFTON. Additionally, he extended his regards to all the vendors, legal and financial teams, co-investors, and board members. “Last but not least none of this was possible without the support of Sean (Hyunil) Sohn who has been instrumental in shaping my career - and has been the most supportive boss one could have.”

Noting that KRAFTON evaluated more than 200 deals ranging between $100M+ USD to $250K, Tandon said, “This is truly India’s decade in interactive entertainment & tech - also MENA is the next big global gaming market - don't sleep on it. KRAFTON Inc. continues to work hard in the region.”

Before KRAFTON and YOOZOO GAMES, Tandon worked as head of mobile game publishing and marketing at India-based Nazara Games. In 2010 he helped found Rolocule Games and led marketing and product management efforts until 2015. Prior to that, he was a solutions designer at Tech Mahindra and Infosys.

KRAFTON has been headlining the news for quite a few months now because of the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) ban. However, the company stated clearly that it is ready to cooperate with the Indian government. Several reports have suggested that the game has been temporarily suspended, and not permanently banned at the moment.