Bengaluru: KRAFTON India has introduced a fascinating new update in Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) — a digital stepwell — that goes beyond gameplay to celebrate India’s architectural heritage. More than a visual spectacle, this new feature transforms a cultural icon into an immersive, interactive experience for millions of players.
Packed with intricate details such as a dive point and a photo point, the stepwell serves as a striking in-game location. Yet, as KRAFTON India realized, a typical update announcement could not do justice to its uniqueness. Instead, it needed a creative storytelling lens that blended gaming and culture.
India is home to over 3,000 stepwells, many now tourist attractions. But BGMI’s stepwell is the country’s first-ever digital stepwell, inspiring not just an update reveal but a full-fledged tourism campaign.
To bring this to life, KRAFTON India partnered with tgthr., under its content vertical tgthr. Originals, to launch “Destination BGMI Stepwell” — a tourism-style content campaign that invites players to explore “India’s hottest tourist destination not on any map.”
Presented as a vlog-style video series, the campaign features top gamers and influencers exploring the digital stepwell, blending gameplay with humour and cultural storytelling. Each vlog draws inspiration from India’s stepwell heritage while retaining the lighthearted, conversational tone familiar to the BGMI community.
Among the featured creators are gaming stars Scout, Dynamo, Punkk, Admino, LoLzZz, and Zgod, along with lifestyle influencers Naman Arora, Abhishek Jain, Shiv Thakare, Arun Mashettey, Adarsh UC, and Arohi Khurana — each offering a fresh perspective on the landmark.
Srinjoy Das, Associate Director of Marketing, KRAFTON India, said, “Introducing the stepwell in BGMI is our way of blending gaming with India’s cultural heritage. BGMI has always been about discovery, and this update adds a new layer of meaning for our players. With the campaign, we are excited to see this landmark not just played but celebrated like a true cultural hotspot inside the game.”
Pragati Rana, Head of Originals, Regional Creative Officer – West and Founding Partner at tgthr., added, “Content isn’t just storytelling anymore, it’s story-living. The story really lives when it’s as authentic as possible. Content today doesn’t have time for polish. It’s raw. It’s got dirt under its fingernails. It’s real people saying real things. Unfiltered and unapologetic, not some sanitised brand-speak. Destination BGMI Stepwell is about history but it’s not a history lesson. Instead, it’s about the kind of chatter gamers actually care about; banter between friends, side-eye from frenemies, and digs between players. The beauty is packaging the message in the mess. And not making the message a mess.”
With Destination BGMI Stepwell, KRAFTON India continues to blur the lines between gaming, culture, and storytelling, giving India’s heritage a dynamic new life in the digital realm.
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