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Ginger Games joins the Krafton India Gaming Incubator, which kind of misses the point of the whole thing

Let's be real: Ginger Games doesn't need mentoring or money.

Ginger Games joins the Krafton India Gaming Incubator, which kind of misses the point of the whole thing
By Shaun Walton
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Monkey Mayhem

Over in India, Krafton started their eponymous India Gaming Incubator. It is a program that offers young developers mentorships, funds, and guidance, all much needed for a fledgling company. The current recipients include Kleanup Games, which is developing a retro arcade shoot-em-up, and Singular Scheme, which aims to put out its RPG-tower defense hybrid Frontier Paladin.

The latest company added to the roster is Ginger Games. This New Delhi-based company was formed last year, joining KIGI with a dream to produce Monkey Mayhem, an action-adventure set in their Monkey Universe.

And it is this new inclusion that is a massive slap in the face to all small studios in India.

Allow me to explain.

Ginger Games was founded by two men: Sumit Batheja and Shrey Mishra. Batheja has held leadership positions at the likes of Yahoo and Alibaba, big companies. Mishra has 15 years in games, and even co-founded a company that specialised in AR, VR, and XR. Does this sound like a duo that needs mentoring?

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KIGI is also about providing access to connections, but Batheja already bragged about “building successful B2B gaming and media-tech products." We can assume their address book is fit to burst already. Now let’s look at that sensitive subject: money, of which Krafton puts up between $50 and $150k for its companies.

This would be a proper boon to a smaller company. It is also the amount I assume gets deposited into a leader in Yahoo’s bank account whenever he sneezes so that he can wipe his nose. So to round up, Ginger Games has experience, more resources than probably any other startup, and a wealth of contacts already.

Initiatives like KIGI are no doubt important and are a genuine lifeline for a small company. And anyone should be able to apply. But, should a company that's already got a foot in the door even of applied? And more than that, should Krafton of turned down countless other applications to take Ginger Games?

It is their program at the end of the day, but it at least puts a sour taste in my mouth.