Krafton faced a unique dual challenge in expanding BGMI's user base in the Indian market. The challenge was not just about acquiring New Registered Users (NRUs) at a cost-effective rate but also about ensuring the quality of the traffic. The Indian market, generally known for low user acquisition costs, also presented the hurdle of attracting low-quality traffic, making it difficult to target users who are more likely to take action after installing the app.

The challenge was compounded by BGMI's genre – hardcore and shooting games, targeting a niche of dedicated and skilled players, in contrast to the broader audience of casual games. Due to this, securing high-value users through paid marketing was more challenging than through organic traffic. The scarcity of dedicated players (highly engaged users) made it difficult for Krafton to find paid channels capable of consistently delivering high-value users.

Consequently, Krafton had to run short-term spot campaigns instead of long-term paid marketing strategies for sustained growth. The company recognized the need for a revised user acquisition strategy to acquire and engage high-value users who would contribute to long-term metrics like retention and revenue, all while balancing acquisition costs.

To address its user acquisition challenge, Krafton partnered with Moloco for its BGMI campaign, focusing on high-value user engagement to increase ROAS. Leveraging their long-standing relationship and Moloco’s advanced machine learning solution, Krafton aimed for enhanced campaign performance. The strategy involved:

1. Strategic design of UA campaign to acquire high-value users

Collaborating with Moloco, Krafton developed campaigns mainly focusing on user retention and in-app events. This approach targeted acquiring actively engaged users, gradually optimizing the overall campaign performance.

Expanding its advertising reach into the open internet outside of walled gardens — where two-thirds of users spend their time — Krafton innovatively utilized Moloco's machine learning capabilities. This strategic move allowed Krafton to target and acquire users who demonstrate a high probability of engagement after installing the app. This approach enabled Krafton to tap into a broader and more diverse user base, optimizing user acquisition in a more expansive digital universe.

2. Targeting and creative optimization

As BGMI operates exclusively in India, Krafton leveraged Moloco’s geo-targeting feature. Krafton segmented ad groups based on various states within India when running the campaigns, enabling them to tailor the campaigns to the unique characteristics of users in different regions of India while securing regional audience insights.

Furthermore, Krafton efficiently managed campaign resources using the 'Auto-generated creative' feature. This feature automatically generated suitable creatives for each inventory using app information and existing assets. This allowed Krafton to access all ad inventories without manually creating individual creatives based on each size and format requirement, demonstrating a smart approach to resource management.