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What’s the BE 6, an electric-origin SUV from Mahindra Automotive, doing in the virtual world of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), an online multiplayer battle royale game from Krafton.
First thoughts will go to it being a promotional activity timed to the launch of the BE6, and it is true. Adding to it is something more important; “We want the young BGMI gamers to influence the family’s buying choice,” remarks Veejay Nakra, president of Mahindra’s automotive division during a press briefing.
The BE 6 was officially launched on January 7, 2025, and is priced at Rs 18.90 lakh for its base variant, its top model is priced at Rs 26.90 lakh.
Starting from January 16, 2025, players can find and interact with the electric vehicle, go on themed missions, and grab in-game BE 6-inspired items. What’s noteworthy is this collaboration has been in the making since January 2024.
Both brands met each other at an industry event and Krafton pitched for a collaboration; in the past, the game has featured cars from Aston Martin, Ducati, and Lamborghini. “We thought why not do an India-specific move when BGMI is catered to Indian gamers and audiences,” told Seddharth Merrotra, head of business development, Krafton, to afaqs! after the press briefing.
Krafton wanted a certain model, Mahindra was still considering which one to allot and then the auto giant asked Krafton, “We are planning to launch our new EV range of cars, why not we start with them,” reveals Merrotra adding that around “mid-year”, the BE 6 was chosen.
The game’s target group (TG) he tells us is between 18 and 34 years of age and believes they will be excited with this collaboration because it is the first time an Indian automobile manufacturer has executed such a partnership with BGMI. “I’ve never heard or seen anywhere a game collaboration where a lucky winner would get a real-world product (in this case, the BE 6),” adds Merrotra.
Players will need to complete missions in the ‘Mahindra BE 6 Exchange Centre’ to collect ‘Nitro Wheels’ and redeem them for ‘Mahindra Event Crates’.
Then they need to create a video (10-30 seconds) featuring the Mahindra BE 6 in BGMI, and upload the video on YouTube or Instagram, tagging BGMI’s and Mahindra Electric’s official social media handles using the hashtags #BGMIxMahindra and #UnleashTheCharge.
Ask about the kind of metrics or data Mahindra has asked from Krafton for this collaboration, Merrotra was clear: “there are certain numbers which we share with them and certain numbers which we don't share with anybody.”
Before the chat wrapped up, we (afaqs!) were interested in knowing if Krafton would promote this collaboration on television, the answer is no. “We're very, very strong digitally. It is how we connect to the brands which are not related to the gaming audience and reach out to a larger subset of people who probably don't play the game,” remarks Merrotra.