Finally, it is WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER for PUBG Corp. It has been confirmed by PUBG Corporation that PUBG Mobile is returning to the Indian gaming market. The company says that it’s preparing to launch a replacement game created specifically for the Indian market in the name ‘PUBG Mobile India‘. PUBG Corp has also planned to invest a sum of $100 million in India to cultivate, esports, local computer games, entertainment, and IT industries. The corporate also announced that it will be hosting India-exclusive esports events.
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile, popularly known as PUBG Mobile was banned by the government of India because of cybersecurity concerns in September as a part of its ban on Chinese apps, following the ban, PUBG Corp promised that it would no longer authorize the game to Chinese internet giant Tencent in India.
As India is the largest marketplace for PUBG with over 175 million downloads, a few quarters of worldwide downloads, PUBG Corp. decided to come back. The new game, called PUBG Mobile India, has been created for Indian users only.
The company has ensured that in order to maintain the privacy and security of players in India, it will be conducting regular audits and verifications on the storage systems holding Indian users’ personally identifiable information to strengthen security and make sure that their data is safely managed without any loopholes.
PUBG Corp is planning to set up an Indian subsidiary to enhance communications and services with players and will hire over 100 employees specializing in business, esports, and game development. In addition to that, PUBG Corp says it will look to actively collaborate and leverage local businesses to strengthen its gaming service. The investment by Krafton and PUBG Corp, is going to be important in India, in a sector other than the manufacturing sector.
To address the concerns of the Indian Government, PUBG Mobile has cut its ties with Chinese internet giant Tencent and has inked a global deal with Microsoft to move all PUBG Mobile data as well as data from its other properties to Azure.
Within the new PUBG Mobile India game, in-game content is expected to improve and tailored to reflect local needs. Several aspects of the game will also be customized for local gamers, as an example, the game will now be set during a virtual simulation training ground, new characters automatically starting clothed, and green hit effects to reflect the virtual nature of the game. The new PUBG Mobile India game will also include features that place restrictions on game time to market healthy gameplay habits.
In the words of Rupantar Guha, the thematic data analyst at GlobalData, the relaunch of PUBG Mobile within the country reflects India’s growing prominence within the global mobile gaming and esports markets. India is going to be a $1 billion marketplace for games by 2021 and therefore the delayed response to the government’s ban on PUBG Mobile is detrimental to Krafton.
PUBG has played an important role in the evolution of the gaming sector and gamers in India. From being known as casual gamers to the rising number of professional gamers has increased. Let’s see what PUBG Mobile India has in store for all Indian gamers.
