In a bid to tap the growing gamers’ base in India — the second-largest in the world at 591 million — global game developer and publisher Krafton is giving a major festive makeover to its flagship title and highly popular game, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), previously known as PUBG Mobile India. Come October 8, and BGMI players won’t just be parachuting from a plane onto any random location but right into a special Diwali-themed ‘bazaar’ where the stakes are high, and the rewards even higher.
Gamers can purchase festive goodies from the ‘nakshatra’ collection, consisting of several themed items, and even participate in BGMI’s first ‘prize path’ built for India. However, the most notable addition in BGMI’s festive-season content cycle this time is Kiaraa, its first made-in-India character IP with a world of its own. Kiaraa enters BGMI as a part of the 4.6 update and will go live from October 8 onwards.
BGMI is an online multiplayer battle royale game, in which up to 100 players compete to be the last person standing. Players can enter the match as individuals or as a small group of friends of up to four. The game has already surpassed 270 million downloads in the country.
“Last year, we introduced Anamika, the first original character created by our in-house team in India, alongside the ‘Stepwell’ as an India-themed location. What that established is that players engage with Indian characters and Indian spaces when the execution holds up to the standard of everything else in the game. What it did not, however, do was put the festival inside the gameplay loop itself,” said Srinjoy Das, director of marketing and BGMI product management at Krafton India.
“This time we have filled that gap to make the festival something players do, rather than something they look at,” he added.
The anchor is Kiaraa, a new character the BGMI team in India conceived, designed and built – and she arrives with a world around her rather than just a collection. “Additionally, we have introduced ‘The Indian Bazaar’, a new point of interest on Erangel, dressed for Diwali, and it is where squads take on Kiaraa’s Test, her Boss Battle. Around that sits the Kiaraa Nakshatra collection, plus the Kiaraa Exchange Centre, Arena challenges and daily login rewards,” Das explained.
The ‘prize path’ runs from October 22 to November 15 across 20 levels. There is no prize money or real-world payout of any kind involved. Every reward, including the Revel 01 Set and the Diwali Gold Set, is in-game content, Das clarified.
However, the Kiaraa Nakshatra collection – the Nakshatra Set, Divine Peacock Glider, Divine Radiance SCAR-L, Divine Chariot Buggy, Arrow Rain Emote and Divine Edge Machete — is purchasable.
Krafton’s festive update comes at a time when over 75% of Indian gamers now spend real money on in-app purchases (IAPs), as per a 2025 report by venture capital firm Lightbox. IAPs let players buy digital content, currency, or features inside the gaming app. In BGMI, for instance, players can purchase unknown cash (UC), a premium, paid virtual currency, or subscription plans that give players rewards and other perks.
However, Das said he did not want to get into the pricing of the Nakshatra collection or what any of it earns as of now. What he wants to point to instead is what sits outside the purchase. The bazaar is on the map for everyone. Kiaraa’s Test is open to any squad. The Arena challenges, the Exchange Centre and the daily login rewards are all playable without spending, and the ‘prize path’ progresses on play. “A player who spends nothing this Diwali still gets the festival,” he said.
That balance is deliberate, and it sits inside guardrails the company holds itself to regardless of the season – playtime pauses once a player crosses six hours in a day, and spending is capped for players flagged as minors. “A festive window is exactly when those matter most, so nothing in this update relaxes them,” Das added.
The best festive activations in gaming are the ones that feel native to the audience, not a global template with a Diwali skin on top, says Rohit Agarwal, founder and director of Alpha Zegus, a culture-first marketing agency specialising in gaming, among other sectors. “Krafton India’s Kiaraa is a strong example… it shows a publisher building festive content around Indian players first, rather than borrowing from licensed franchises or celebrity tie-ins,” he added.
However, this is not the first time Diwali has found space in gaming. In 2024, Singapore-based Garena’s game Free Fire Max held the Free Fire Diwali Squad Cup, an in-game esports tournament. The event offered exciting in-game prizes and rewards, including a prize pool featuring thousands of diamonds.
In 2023, Singapore-headquartered SuperGaming’s 4v4 shooter title Battle Stars added a festive touch with a new update for Diwali. Its revamped Delhi map had a night theme, with lights and diya decorations. Additionally, the loot boxes were replaced with gift boxes, and grenades with ‘sutli bombs’, all in sync with the Diwali spirit.