The youth of India is crazy about PUBG Mobile (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile), but the authorities there have banned the game. Now, PUBG Corp. is making a new attempt to modify the game so that it can be played in India again. The special thing is: The changes are coming in record time and are radical.
What’s up with PUBG Mobile and India? India is not a traditional gaming market. Neither consoles nor PCs have really established themselves as gaming platforms there. Only powerful, affordable smartphones have opened up the vast country (1.38 billion inhabitants) as a gaming market in recent years.
The first big hit in India was PUBG Mobile. Especially the youth of the country was mad about the shooter. It has become a cult:
But authorities and media watched the shooter with growing skepticism. It was deemed “too violent” for some and not in line with the values of India, as reported by the media. Moreover, the mobile shooter appeared to be truly addictive to the youth, as critically noted.
There were reports on how harmful and even devastating “PUBG” was for the youth of India. There were even strange reports of deaths caused by PUBG: One teenager allegedly drank acid instead of water because he was so engrossed in PUBG.
In September 2020, India even banned PUBG Mobile, along with many other apps: The apps were said to threaten national security.
The accusation was obvious: The apps collected data and transmitted it to China. PUBG Mobile was distributed in India by Tencent, a huge Chinese corporation.
Apparently, tensions at the Indo-Chinese borders contributed to further inflaming the conflict.
Tencent is out, Microsoft is in, and there’s a big investment
How PUBG is avoiding trouble from China: It quickly became clear that PUBG Corp. wants to bring PUBG Mobile back to India at all costs.
The PUBG Corp. announced shortly after the ban in India that it would part ways with Tencent. They have severed the connection.
As a “new partner,” they have now brought Microsoft on board. They want to use their Azure service to widely distribute PUBG in India.
According to a statement:
The safety and privacy of Indian players are of the utmost priority for PUBG Corporation: The company will conduct regular audits and verifications to ensure the safety of the personal information of Indian users.
It probably doesn’t hurt that the parent company of PUBG Corp. has announced a significant investment in India. KRAFTON plans to spend $100 million and invest in “video game infrastructure” in India.
They plan to open an office that will employ more than 100 people.
Mandatory clothing, game time limit, and green blood
How the game is changing: There are also three changes to the game to reflect “the needs and preferences of Indian users.”
- Blood is now green in India
- There is a game limit that allows for “healthy play for teenagers”
- Players will no longer start PUBG Mobile in their underwear but with an outfit
When “PUBG Mobile India” will be released is still unclear at the moment.
What’s behind it: PUBG Mobile reached 50 million users per month in India before the ban and created a genuine e-sports scene. In India, there’s a YouTuber named “Sc0ut” who became famous through PUBG Mobile and is as well-known there as Dr Disrespect is here.
Therefore, it was extremely important for PUBG Corp. to bring the game back on the market as quickly as possible.
This shows that it apparently only takes a very short time to make such substantial changes and “adapt” the game for India.
Only 2 months have passed since the ban. Many players would wish that their game could also undergo radical changes that quickly.
In 2019 there was a real campaign in Indian media about how dangerous PUBG Mobile was and that some Indian teenagers had already died because of it.
We picked up one of the reports here on MeinMMO, stating that PUBG was responsible for the deaths of 2 men at the railway tracks:
